Major Flooding In S-Central China; Northern Drought Bakes On - China Daily

[hatrack]

EDIT

"So far this week, floods, waterlogging and consequent geographical hazards have affected more than 45.7 million people across China, toppled 197,000 homes, inundated over 3 million hectares of crops with grain yields cut by at least 30 per cent in over half of them.

Premier Wen Jiabao urged local authorities to fight flooding and focus on preventing devastating weather-related hazards, promote relief work and guard against any possible outbreak of epidemic diseases in flood-stricken areas. Over the past two days, downpours pounded South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Regions and Central China's Hunan and Hubei provinces along the rain-swollen Yangtze River. Continuous rain has, since early this week, flooded nine counties and put 18 reservoirs at risk in Hunan, said local sources.

Nine counties were ravaged by torrential rain that hit the northwestern part of the province from Monday to Tuesday. Nearly 110,000 people were forced to move to higher ground, they said.

EDIT

Precipitation recorded in Central and South China has, since June, been 20 to 50 per cent higher than average, Zhang said. Rainfall even exceeded 600 millimetres in parts of Guangxi, Hubei and Hunan."

EDIT

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-07/21/content_350411.htm

[theHandpuppet]

1. From what I understand...

India is having a similar problem, with drought in the west and terrible flooding in the south and east. With such large populations to feed, I don't see how this can be anything other than disastrous for both countries -- and not just in the immediate future. The possibility of disease in the flooded areas can only make the situation even more grave.

[hatrack]

2. To some extent, India's problems are perennial

The monsoon this year has been pretty strong (at least in those areas getting rain), hence the damage and deaths to date. China's rain is seasonal, though not nearly as predictable as that in India.