South China Floods: 56 Dead, Huge Swathes of Land Submerged Under Water
Fifty-six people are confirmed dead and 22 are missing as south China is battered by torrential rain. Huge swathes of land are now underwater, damaging crops and forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.
Xinhua reports that the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs confirmed that 11 provinces have been ravaged by flooding since June 29. Landslides and hailstorms leave 27,000 homes destroyed and 33,000 damaged in the provinces of Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Economic losses now amount to an estimated $3.72 billion with southern provinces being the location of much of the country's agriculture. Guangxi is China's largest sugarcane-growing region while Hunan is its third-largest hog-farming province. Rice is also grown in most of the provinces south of the Yangtze River.
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Extensive power blackouts were also experienced due to the flooding which affected the China Southern Power Grid. Power was later restored Monday morning.
China's central government has allocated over $280 million in 20 provinces in South China for disaster relief. However, the cost to rebuild will cost much more.
The China National Commission for Disaster Reduction also sent teams and materials to the worst-hit areas. This includes the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, and Guizhou.
About 3,000 armed police have been sent to aid in the rescue work as well as maintain order in the region. They are also aiding flood-fighting in Hunan as flood waters continue to rise from the Xiangjiang River, a major tributary of the Yangtze River.
The waters of the Xiangjiang reached a record high of 39.51 meters (129.6 feet) according to data received from the Changsha monitoring station. The rising waters have uprooted trees and left thousands of houses and roads in South China completely submerged.
On the other hand, Reuters reports that Northern China is experiencing a heat wave with temperatures reaching a scorching 40 degrees Celsius. Forecasts say that the heat will subside by next week. For the meantime, citizens are staying their home away from the stifling heat.
