Over Half a Million Flee Massive China Floods
More than 500,000 residents have been forced to evacuate as continued torrential rain in central and southern China has caused some of the worst flooding seen on the region in over 50 years.
The Chinese government has mobilized troops to help with the mass evacuations to try and help people escape the devastation that has already seen more than 100 people die from the flooding so far.
The disaster level in China has been raised to level four; the highest level. To compound matters weather reports have told the regions to expect the torrential rains to continue until at least the end of the week.
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China News Service has reported that in the eastern Jiangxi province 124,000 residents have been assisted by government troops to move them from low-lying areas.
The torrential rain has come following months of drought in the central and northern regions of the country, which devastated annual crop yields.
Earlier this week in the Hubei province a huge landslide was caused by the unrelenting rainfall. That landslide blocked the Pingdi River, which in turn forced the evacuation of more than 2,000 local residents. Six people are still missing from that incident.
Analysts have said that the massive rainfall is unlikely to provide any help to crop shortages caused by months of drought. In some areas the driest conditions in a lifetime were experienced in the first half of this year.
The Chinese countryside was reportedly left devastated by the droughts; with just tiny muddy pools taking the place of what had previously been huge dams stretching out for hundreds of meters.
Experts predict that the mass crop failures in China could have a big impact on food prices worldwide.
