THIS is the moment floodwaters surge through a shopping centre in southwest China – as the region faces its highest flood levels in decades.

Murky torrents flow from escalators and upper floors, sweeping shop objects away in dramatic scenes.

Video captured on Tuesday at Rongjiang County’s biggest mall in Guizhou shows water rushing down escalators and flooding the upper levels.

Various objects – some appearing to be items of clothing, others chairs – are dragged into the currents.

Cars were also reportedly washed into underground garages as a result of the torrential floods that submerged much of the city.

The alert was raised on Friday when continuous heavy rains drove the water level of the Rongjiang River to 114.6 metres.

On Tuesday, authorities in Rongjiang raised the flood alert to its highest level, warning that river levels could peak at 255 metres.

The county – which has a population of about 300,000 – has not seen these flood levels in 30 years, according to newspaper China Daily.

On Tuesday afternoon, local resident Wu Hanjun shared with the newspaper, “Although the rain has ceased, the floodwaters remain significantly high and are anticipated to increase.”

According to an evacuation directive, most of the old town’s inhabitants and those in sections of the new district were instructed to relocate to shelters on higher ground on Tuesday.

China experiences regular flooding during the summer due to the East Asian monsoon, which brings heavy, continuous rainfall from June to August.

Warm, moist air from the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean also feeds storms, causing rivers to overflow.

It comes as southern China saw torrential rains in April 2024, swelling the Bei River in Guangdong by up to 19 feet above warning levels.

Over 110,000 residents were evacuated, and more than a million households experienced power outages.

Shocking footage shows cars being swept away by powerful flood currents.

Photos also reveal vehicles submerged in water and rescue workers carrying people through chest-deep floodwaters out of buildings.

In July 2021, floods devastated Zhengzhou, in China’s Henan province flooded – after the heaviest rainfall recorded in over a millennium in that region.

The rains submerged parts of the city, including subway lines.

Distressing footage shows panicked passengers trapped in Zhengzhou’s subway – flooded to shoulder-deep levels – texting their final goodbyes.

Hundreds of people had to be rescued as carriages became submerged.

At least 25 people died as a result of the floods in central China, while over 100,000 were forced to flee as cities became submerged.