Days of torrential rain in southern China have killed 66 people
and left 12 missing by last night, according to the Ministry of
Civil Affairs. Nearly 9 million people have been affected.
Floods caused by heavy rains damaged 94,000 houses and destroyed
48,000 in the region; and forced the evacuation of about 591,000
people, a ministry spokesman said.
About 294,800 hectares of crops were affected, of which 53,000
hectares were completely destroyed, he said.
From Wednesday to Saturday, continuous rain, mudslides and
floods hit Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Jiangxi and Fujian, affecting more than 8.97 million
people.
The disasters have caused an overall loss of more than 2.9
billion yuan (US$371 million), according to the ministry, which has
sent rescue and relief teams to the disaster areas.
The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said
yesterday that Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou and Hunan have been
hardest hit.
The National Meteorological Center yesterday forecast heavy rain
south of the Yangtze River and continued downpours in South China
until Thursday.
The headquarters has activated the level-4 emergency response,
the highest in the country.
In Guangdong, 14 people were killed in rain-triggered landslides
or house collapses till last night, and 1.45 million people in 17
counties have been affected, according to the headquarters.
China Central Television said floods caused direct losses of
nearly 100 million yuan (US$13 million) in the province.
In neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, 13 people were
killed in torrential rains that began last Wednesday; and 1.97
million people affected.
On Thursday and Friday, when senior high school graduates across
the country were taking the annual college entrance examination,
thousands of candidates in Quanzhou county of Guangxi had to be
moved to backup exam centers as heavy rain submerged their
classrooms.
In Central China's Hunan Province, heavy rainfall on the fifth
successive day yesterday left three people dead, one missing,
158,000 homeless and affecting more than 1.33 million people in 11
cities and counties.
Direct losses in Guangxi and Hunan are estimated at 449 million
yuan (US$58.6 million) and 580 million yuan (US$75.8 million).
Jiao Meiyan, director of the National Meteorological Center,
attributed the continuous heavy rainfall in part to "global climate
change."
She also said the country's capability in flood control was
improving with "more financial input and more accurate
forecasts."
"The number of casualties has been declining in recent years,
which is substantial progress in a densely populated nation with
very complex climate conditions," she added.
Experts had earlier forecast floods in the middle and lower
reaches of the Yangtze River this summer.
Chen Lei, minister of water resources, warned yesterday that the
Songhua River in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province is also likely to be hit
by heavy flooding this year.
(China Daily June 11, 2007)