A village leader evacuated all 60 residents of a mountain community in Southwest China's Yunnan Province within 30 minutes before a massive landslide struck ‒ resulting in zero casualties.

Tian Ruliang. (Photos provided to People's Daily)

Tian Ruliang, leader of the Shanghongyan Village in Maguan County, Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, made three trips into the darkness during torrential rain on the night of May 17 to knock on doors and broadcast emergency warnings.

During one of those runs, a mudslide swept him off his feet. He survived by grabbing onto a tree and pulling himself clear of the debris.

By 5 am on May 18, all 21 households had reached high ground. Moments later, more than 10,000 cubic meters of mud and rock engulfed the village below.

"Tian disregarded his own safety," said villager Lu Anjin. "Now we must work together to rebuild our homes as soon as possible."

Tian has since returned to help residents with cleanup and reconstruction.

The evacuation was seen as a practical test of Yunnan's 1262 mechanism: a tiered early warning system that issues rainfall alerts at 12, 6 and 2 hours before a predicted disaster, cascading emergency responses down to village level at each stage.

Authorities say the mechanism in 2025 helped relocate more than 112,600 people in advance. A total of 183,600 cumulative evacuations were carried out during the flood season.

The system has prevented casualties in 114 mountain floods and geological disasters last year, 65 of which were later commended at the national level.

Behind those figures are people like Tian: village leaders who rush toward danger at the first sign of flooding, forming the last line of defense in China's mountainous regions.

Post-disaster reconstruction work in Shanghongyan Village is progressing steadily.

(Compiled by Song Wanlin)