Typhoon Maysak is China’s first typhoon of the year and has so far caused multiple fatalities and forced 130,000 people to evacuate.
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has been experiencing the fallout from the typhoon for days. Authorities issued the region’s highest flood alert at midnight on Monday, and by Tuesday afternoon, 62 rivers across the country had risen above flood-warning levels, with the Qingshui river recording the heaviest flood in its monitoring history, according to The Independent.
The snake farm, located in Dengwei village in Hengzhou, was reportedly washed away when nearby reservoirs, Liulan and Yunbiao, breached their walls on Monday morning (6th July).
“According to our preliminary estimate, around 800 to 900 snakes escaped after the farm was washed away by floodwaters. So far, one villager has been bitten by a snake and is receiving emergency treatment at a hospital,” Wu Zhi, head of the Dengwei village committee in Yunbiao township, Hengzhou, told the state-owned Red Star News (English version as reported by Global Times).
According to Wu Zhi, most of the escaped snakes weren’t in fact venomous. “Most of the snakes have already been washed away by the floods. At present, only a small number remain on floating garbage and debris on stagnant floodwaters. Most of the snakes captured at the site have been non-venomous water snakes,” he added.
Local farms mainly raise three types of snakes – cobras, king rat snakes and water snakes (only the cobras are venomous). They are farmed for traditional medicine, meat and anti-venom.
On Tuesday 7th July, screenshots and video clips of snakes swimming in the floodwaters were posted online by residents, warning others to take precautions. A team has since been organised to capture the escapees using fishing tools and stun guns.
Wu Zhi urged villagers to avoid catching snakes by hand and to report any sightings to the village committee to be handled by professionals.
Typhoon Maysak and the resulting floods have inundated the city of Nanning and surrounding villages, and triggered thunderstorms and rare tornadoes hundreds of kilometres away, as reported by the BBC.
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Top image: Illustrative, not actual event. Credit: Andrey Kanyshev/Getty Images
