Flooding in 14 Chinese Provinces; Crop Destruction Severe

A Jiangxi man leads his family to higher ground in China's flooded Nanchang Province, June 15, 2011. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

News Summary

One hundred Chinese rivers are at flood warning levels with 17 beyond the flood stage and six that have broken historical records. The crisis has affected more than 10 million people in 14 provinces in southern China.

Chinese news reports the following situations in some severely affected provinces:

Hubei

From June 17 to June 18, Hubei’s meteorological department issued a total of 41 rainstorm warnings, affecting three million people in 31 counties. Due to the floods, two people are dead and two missing, and 24,000 people have been urgently transferred to another location. The crop-growing area destroyed is over 645,000 acres. 2,194 houses have collapsed, affecting 642 families, while 5,077 houses are damaged. The immediate economic loss is over 100 million dollars.

Jiangxi

Flooding in Jiangxi has swept through 573 villages and towns, across 50 counties, causing thousands of acres of agricultural land to be inundated. Three deaths have occurred, 257,000 people have been relocated and 3,120,000 are coping with the disaster. 4,390 houses have collapsed, causing US$895 million in damage.

Zhejiang

As of June 19, Zhejiang’s floods have hit nine cities, 50 counties, and 545 villages. Roughly 2.7 million people are coping with disruptions: 989 enterprises have stopped production, 406 highways have been blocked, 1394 levees have been swept away, and several hundred acres of crops destroyed.

Anhui

Floods in this province have caused havoc for 2.1 million people, with 123,700 people evacuated from their homes, 3 people killed, and 540 acres of crops ruined. Over 4,000 houses have collapsed and more than 2,000 damaged. Economic losses total US$206 million with US$80 million coming from agricultural losses.

For most of this year, Anhui, Hubei and Zhejiang were ravaged by severe drought. The water resource minister, Chen Lei, said, “There is an increasing possibility that downpours, with enhanced frequency and intensity, will continue to lash regions in the south.”

The destruction of crops is expected to raise food prices and thus China’s Consumer Price Index (CPI). Jin Changlin, with the Zhejiang Agricultural Department, said Saturday that vegetable prices could continue rising for another two weeks due to weather-related disruptions in production.

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