Flooding adds to gaokao stress

Rain was heaviest in Hubei province, with more than 600 millimeters. Some areas in neighboring Anhui, Hunan and Guizhou provinces saw between 250 and 480 millimeters of precipitation.

The student interviewed by China Youth Daily, who was not named, said the rain had come unexpectedly, and she and her parents had received no warning.

"It has been quite rainy this season, so we and the school didn't regard it as a big deal. I can't blame the school," she said.

She said that it had rained all night and she woke up early in the morning only to find her community was badly flooded. She and some other students were trapped in a bus on a flooded road until after 10 am, when she received a WeChat message that the Chinese language exam, scheduled to begin at 9 am, had been canceled and would be rescheduled.