Natural calamities in China have already claimed 555 lives and
caused 28.5 billion yuan (US$3.4 billion) in damages this year, the
Ministry of Civil Affairs reported on Tuesday. Floods, drought,
earthquakes, snow, landslides and mudslides have toppled 269,000
houses and 630,000 people have been forced to evacuate. The
disasters have also affected 14.6 million hectares of crops: 1
million hectares will have no harvest.
Floods alone have affected 1.9 million hectares of crops,
including 235,300 hectares that were wiped out completely. They
have killed 296 people and forced 412,000 to relocate.
Heavy rainstorms have hit many areas, mostly in the south, three
times in the past week. The rain belt will head north in the days
to come, according to a report issued Wednesday by the China
Meteorological Administration (CMA).
"Intense and persistent rainfalls are likely to increase in
eastern parts of northwest China, the central-southern portion of
north China, areas along the Hanshui River Valley and locations
between the Yellow and Huaihe rivers," the report said.
The rain may last for a week in some areas, with 25 to 50
millimeters forecast to fall in the next 10 days. Some areas may
see as much as 90 millimeters.
The CMA warned that flood control on north China's rivers will
become critical and new floods are likely to occur "at any moment
as of today."
CMA head Qin Dahe ordered all meteorologists to stay their posts
and cancel all unnecessary trips or conferences.
The weather monitoring body will work with flood-control
authorities to monitor the moving rain belt and its impact on
China's major rivers, like the Yangtze and the Yellow.
The water level at the Three Gorges reservoir was reportedly
lowered four meters at Yichang, the dam site of the project in
Hubei Province. Experts believe that the reservoir can hold 2
billion cubic meters of floodwater and reduce downstream flooding
on the Yangtze.
On Wednesday, a flood with a crest of 37,100 cubic meters of
water per second was recorded on the Xijiang River, pushing the
water level 3.6 meters over the warning mark at Wuzhou hydrometric
station in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Wuzhou was well prepared and no damage or casualties were
reported. Wuzhou is a key flood-control city through which more
than 90 percent of the rivers in Guangxi flow.
In neighboring Guangdong, a heavy storm that struck Guangzhou,
capital of the province, caused chaos in the busy downtown areas on
Tuesday. Many streets in the business centers were flooded.
(China Daily July 15, 2004)