Flooding in China 6/2008

From the China Daily

GUANGZHOU -- Heavy rain and floods have claimed 171 lives in China's 20 regions this year, according to the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, with the government warning of serious flooding in the Yellow River.

The worst storms and floods in decades have hit about 38.56 million people in 20 provinces, mostly in the south, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said yesterday.

About 52 people are missing and 2.2 million hectares of farmland has been inundated, the ministry said. The direct economic loss has reached 26 billion yuan ($3.3 billion).

Threat of massive floods along the 5,500-km Yellow River that runs through the north looms large, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) warned yesterday.

Heavy rain in the next few days could "increase the destructive force of floods and make relief and rescue work even more difficult", the CMA said.

"National flood prevention and relief efforts are entering a crucial phase" because torrential rain are likely to raise the threat of floods in the lower and middle reaches of the Yellow River in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan and Shandong provinces, it said.

The Yellow River, China's longest after the Yangtze, has caused massive floods in the past but its devastating effects have not been felt in recent decades.

Weather forecasts warn fresh storms could lash parts of the Yangtze River delta and parts of provinces in the east, south and southwest too...

Heavy rain is likely to continue in Hunan and Guizhou provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region during the next couple of days, the CMA said.