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Severe summer flooding has hit southeast China, prompting the Chinese government to officially publicize casualty and damage figures and an appeal from the Red Cross for humanitarian aid. A statement by the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said flooding along the Yangtze River is the worst in living memory for many residents. Meteorologists have said flooding could continue, exacerbated by late summer typhoons. In a press report from the Associated Press on Friday, July 17, the Chinese government reported that flooding had killed more than 1,000. Worst hit are the eastern provinces of Jiangxi, Fujian, Anhui and Zhejiang; central Hubei and Hunan pro-vinces; southern Guangdong and Guangxi provinces; and Sichuan in the west. Nationwide, the flooding was estimated in mid-July to have destroyed 3 million homes, swamped 22 million acres of crops and caused more than $10 billion in economic losses since the spring. Although flooding affects much of China every summer, rains began earlier and have been much heavier than usual, perhaps a result of this year's unusual weather patterns. News of the high death toll and damage prompted Red Cross officials to ask for urgent shipments of food, medicine and water purification equipment. They estimated that hundreds of thousands of families were left destitute; many were living in flimsy shelters with little food or drinking water. In one part of Jiangxi province, the Red Cross found families living atop dikes in shelters made from straw and plastic bags. Crops, nearly ready for harvest, were flooded. Colds, respiratory infections and other minor illnesses are spreading, but the Ministry of Civil Affairs says medical teams have prevented an outbreak of epidemics. The ministry said flooding had affected more than 140 million people. To make up for some of the damage to crops, farmers would plant late rice, a Chinese newspaper reported. The warmer regions of China produce two rice crops a year. Water is being drained from farmland to enable the second crop to be planted, although it was reported that such efforts have not been as successful in Jiangxi and southern Guangxi autonomous region because of the high levels of water, lack of pumps and mountainous terrain. Total losses of early rice in Jiangxi were estimated at about half a million tons, or about 10% of annual early rice output, a report from Reuters Press Service. "Losses to crops from the floods this year are the most severe in recent years," Reuters quoted a Jiangxi agricultural official as saying. Cotton in the province also was seriously affected by flooding. Rains also were reported to be moving north, threatening grain crops that are typically harvested in the autumn. The current flooding comes on the heels of heavier than normal spring rains from early March to the end of May, which inundated farmland and resulted in significant crop failure. |
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