Typhoon Meisak and its residual circulation triggered catastrophic flooding across Guangxi (an autonomous region in southern China) in early July 2026, with a 24-hour rainfall total of 745 millimetres recorded in parts of Nanning — surpassing the benchmark set by the deadly 2021 Zhengzhou floods. The Liulan Reservoir, built in the 1950s, breached on 6 July, tearing open a gap dozens of metres wide and sending torrents of muddy water surging over farmland and villages in Hengzhou city; tens of thousands of residents were evacuated as multiple reservoirs across Nanning and Guigang came under threat. The disaster has raised urgent questions about the resilience of ageing water infrastructure in an era of intensifying extreme weather.