China expects more rain after floods affect almost three million people
Parts of southern China have been cleaning up following floods that have left at least 20 people dead or missing.
Nearly three million people have been affected by the floods, with 228,000 forced to seek shelter and 1,300 homes destroyed, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.
The area is forecast to be hit with more rain over the coming days.
Direct economic losses are estimated at more than 500 million US dollars, the ministry said.
The city in southern China was flooded, and the flood rushed the car away pic.twitter.com/Dwye90xMKJ
— 老秋 (@reallaoqiu) June 7, 2020
While damage has been concentrated in Hunan province and the Guangxi region, authorities were monitoring the situation in the city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the global coronavirus pandemic, which lies along the Yangtze River.
Guangxi’s crucial tourism sector, already hit hard by the pandemic, has suffered further losses from the floods.
In the picturesque town of Yangshuo, famed for its river scenery, streets flooded and tourists had to be evacuated on bamboo rafts.
Heavy rain in South #China has caused waterlogging in #Yangshuo County, #Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Sunday, damaging 37,650 households and causing 4.647 billion yuan in damage. The floods receded Monday and dredging work is in progress to restore traffic. pic.twitter.com/um2QLIKV7a
— People's Daily app (@PeoplesDailyapp) June 10, 2020
The county government said more than 1,000 hotels and other accommodation, as well as 5,000 shops, suffered water damage.
Firefighters and other public workers helped to clear debris and spray disinfectant.
Thousands of houses swept away as rain triggers flash floods in Southern China's Guangdong and Hunan provinces, affecting nearly 2.6 million people. With more heavy rains expected, around 20,000 people have been evacuated so far. @Shobhit10Mittal gets you the details pic.twitter.com/IvgNyZQ7zg
— WION (@WIONews) June 10, 2020
Seasonal flooding regularly strikes the lower regions of China’s major river systems, particularly those of the Yangtze and the Pearl to the south.
Authorities have sought to mitigate the damage through the use of dams, particularly the massive Three Gorges structure on the Yangtze.
China’s worst floods in recent years were in 1998, when more than 2,000 people died and almost three million homes were destroyed.
