Floods since June 28 in eastern and southwestern China triggered by torrential rains have killed at least 72 and caused billions of yuan worth of damage, according to local governments yesterday.
In Sichuan Province, the rains that started almost two weeks ago have led to the deaths of 72 people across 89 counties with 30 others still missing.
Almost 9.2 million people in the province have been affected and direct economic losses so far stand at 4.9 billion yuan (US$492 million).
Farmers in Dazhou City are facing harvest failure after the inundation of 122,667 hectares of farmland. Total losses for the city's agriculture industry were estimated at 1.3 billion yuan (US$157 million), according to the disaster relief office of Sichuan's provincial government.
In east China's Anhui Province, the deluges resulted in economic losses of 400 million yuan (US$48 million), local government officials said yesterday.
More than 400,000 hectares of farmland in 20 counties have been inundated since the downpours hit the province last Monday, said Xiao Luan, an official from the provincial department of water resources.
"So far, no casualties have been reported, but the floods have ruined more than 1,400 houses in flood-prone areas, leaving thousands of people homeless," Xiao said.
Riverwater levels at Xixian County Hydrologic Station on the Huaihe River reached 42.92 meters at 8 AM yesterday, 1.42 meters above the flood warning threshold.
The Huaihe cuts across China between the Yellow and Yangtze rivers and areas along it are historically prone to floods and droughts.
According to the China Central Meteorological Observatory, rains in the flood-hit areas along the Huaihe should let up from today.
Besides Anhui and Sichuan, Henan, Jiangsu and Hubei provinces are also suffering floods.
Two power stations under construction in Zhuxi County in Hubei were reported inundated on Sunday.
The same day, Vice Premier Hui Liangyu urged local governments to adopt measures to control surging floods along the Huaihe.
(China Daily July 12, 2005)
