Tropical Storm Maysak killed 39 people in southern China, with a dam breach in the city of Nanning accounting for 26 of those deaths. Ding Wei, Nanning's vice mayor, released the updated toll at a news briefing on Thursday Al Jazeera.

The figure represents a sharp jump from earlier reports. State media outlet Xinhua had reported six dead and eleven missing as of Tuesday evening, with Beijing dispatching additional relief supplies to the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in response Xinhua english.www.gov.cn. On Monday, Xinhua had reported just two deaths. None of the mid-week dispatches approached Thursday's 39-death figure, reflecting how casualty counts climb once floodwaters recede and rescue teams access previously isolated areas.

Maysak brought record rainfall to Guangxi starting Saturday, July 4, according to the Associated Press, with the storm triggering reservoir breaches and leaving residents trapped in homes for days AP via Washington Post. The BBC reported that heavy rain reached Renhe village by Sunday, July 5, and noted the storm spawned rare tornadoes across the region BBC. China's meteorological centre recorded cumulative rainfall of 10 to 40 centimeters across much of the area, with some zones exceeding 90 centimeters.

Roughly 130,000 people were evacuated as floodwaters rose. The rescue effort involved more than 8,000 personnel and approximately 5,700 boats. Ding reported Thursday that water levels are now receding, though additional rain is expected in parts of the region over the next two days. Electricity has been restored to more than 60,000 homes.

China's Ministry of Emergency Management warned that Maysak would continue affecting the country through Thursday, with significant river rises expected across the Pearl River basin, which drains much of Guangxi and neighboring Guangdong toward the South China Sea iChongqing. The storm's impact extended beyond China: Maysak brought heavy rain and flooding to Vietnam starting the same weekend AP.

One unusual footnote: at Guigang Zoo, also in Guangxi, flood damage to enclosures allowed at least 100 animals—including alpacas, miniature pigs, and zebras—to escape.

The growing gap between mid-week casualty counts and Thursday's official figure is not uncommon in Chinese disaster reporting. Local officials typically revise death tolls upward once rescue crews reach isolated areas and once a specific cause—such as a dam failure—is confirmed rather than general flooding. The fact that the dam breach accounts for two-thirds of all deaths indicates that infrastructure failure, not rainfall alone, drove the bulk of fatalities. This distinction will likely shape how accountability questions unfold once the immediate rescue phase concludes.

No Xinhua report matching the 39-death or 130,000-evacuation figures had surfaced by Thursday's Al Jazeera report, which relied instead on Ding Wei's briefing and the national meteorological centre. The New York Times, meanwhile, had attributed its earlier Tuesday coverage to Xinhua via the Associated Press, reflecting the lower casualty figures available at that stage New York Times. This lag between provincial briefings and the state wire service's reporting rhythm is typical during fast-moving disasters. Whether further revisions emerge as recovery continues remains an open question.