At least 42 killed as torrential rain sweeps central and south China
TORRENTIAL rain lashed parts of central and south China yesterday, with floods damaging crops, forcing hundreds of thousands from their homes and killing at least 42 people, while the north wilted in a heatwave and drought-like conditions.
Water levels in more than 60 rivers in south China have risen above warning levels, flood control authorities said.
Forty-two people were confirmed dead and 21 missing after heavy rain and flooding engulfed several provinces, including Hunan, and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the civil affairs ministry said.
Thousands of soldiers, armed police, civil servants and members of the public are battling floods in provinces along the Yangtze River.
The annual rainy season, which arrived in the second half of June, has hit Hunan the most.
The water level at the Changsha monitoring station on the Xiangjiang River, a major Yangtze tributary, reached a record high of 39.51 meters early yesterday, exceeding the previous record of 39.18 meters set by a massive flood in 1998.
Floods have inundated houses, uprooted trees, damaged cars and roads in Changsha, Hunan’s capital.
The public, even elementary school students on summer vacation, volunteered to help fill sandbags to prevent the river from overflowing. Fourth grader Yang Shan, who lives in downtown Changsha, distributed ropes and filled sandbags for soldiers to carry to the riverbank.
Intermittent rain is forecast to last in the city until tomorrow.
Across the province, flooding has forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate, damaged crops and destroyed houses, causing a total direct economic loss of 8.26 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion), the provincial civil affairs office said.
The Three Gorges Dam upstream from Hunan has reduced water discharges by 70 percent in the past three days.
Its flow was 27,000 cubic meters per second before Saturday, but has now been reduced to 8,000 cubic meters, according to the Yangtze River Flood Prevention Headquarters.
The reduction stopped 3 billion cubic meters of water and lowered the water level by up to 1.5 meters, the headquarters said.
“We hope the reduction of outflow will give soldiers and the people enough time to evacuate and stack up sandbags to battle the flood,” said Wu Zhaohui, an official with the water resources bureau in neighboring Hubei Province, where 16,000 people are on high alert for flooding.
In Guangxi, 16 people have been confirmed dead and 10 are missing due to flooding in the region after a storm, authorities said.
Guangxi is China’s top sugarcane region, while Hunan is its third-largest pig-farming province. Rice is grown south of the Yangtze.
China will take steps to ensure sugar reserves are safe during the rainy season, the Sugar Reserve Management Center said.
China Southern Power Grid reported an extensive blackout in Guangxi. Electricity to half of the affected area was restored by yesterday morning.
The state post bureau warned of delays in parts of central, southern and southwest provinces.
In contrast, stifling heat has settled over Beijing, and northern provinces, including Shaanxi, Hebei and Henan, since last week, with temperatures forecast to reach 40 degrees Celsius in some areas.
Cities in Shaanxi issued alerts, saying temperatures could exceed 35 degrees in the next three days.
In the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, more than 200 firefighters are battling a grassland fire that has crossed over to north China from Mongolia. The blaze spread quickly in dry conditions and strong winds.
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