New Delhi, July 10 -- NANNING, China - At the Guigang Zoo in Guangxi, zoo staff posted a notice asking the public not to approach the animals. About 100 of them - including North American raccoons, porcupines, and peacocks - had escaped their enclosures when floodwaters breached the zoo perimeter. The animals were frightened and "potentially aggressive," the notice warned. By then, 39 people in the same region were dead.

Flooding from Tropical Storm Maysak killed 39 people across China's southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, authorities announced Thursday, a toll that more than sextupled an earlier count of six as rescue teams reached neighborhoods cut off by surging water. Twenty-six of the dead were killed when a dam breach sent f...