<p>The drought-flood abrupt alternation (DFAA) events, including drought-to-flood transitions (DFT) and flood-to-drought transitions (FDT), pose new challenges for basin-wide water resource management and hydrological activities in adapting to future extreme climatic conditions, due to the need for shorter response times. This study explores the effects of DFT and FDT events on the operations of three major reservoirs in the Dongjiang River Basin (DRB) with a focus on analyzing the differences in operational characteristics between DFAA events and single drought or flood events, as well as examining how DFAA events impact the operations of reservoirs with varying storage capacities. The main findings of this study include: (1) Reservoir outflows exhibit distinct variations during DFT and FDT events, with increased outflow during drought periods compared to single drought events, and reduced outflow during flood periods relative to single flood events. (2) In the flood period of DFT events, the water level remains within the guaranteed output zone for a smaller proportion of time (4.52% to 47.67%), while in the drought period of FDT events, the water level remains within the guaranteed output zone for a smaller proportion of time (12.13% to 35.98%). After FDT periods, the recovery time to return to the guaranteed output zone is longer than that following single droughts (10.37% to 65.47%). In contrast, DFT periods result in a shorter recovery time compared to single floods. (3) Larger reservoirs demonstrate greater resilience, maintaining longer durations within the guaranteed output zone and recovering more quickly, while smaller reservoirs are more severely affected.</p>