According to the Weather Bureau the current drought in Guizhou Province is the most severe drought since 1951, both in terms of the affected areas and in terms of its severity.
On Sep. 4, Xinhua News reported that the Guizhou Province Weather Bureau had announced that 70 counties have suffered “heavy drought.”
As of Sep. 1, this drought has already affected 21,135,900 residents in 88 counties, causing 6,223,700 residents to have difficulty obtaining drinking water, and devastating 4,357,209 acres of crops.
Although the drought in Guizhou started in July, the Chinese media has seldom reported on it. When CCTV recently carried extensive coverage of Hurricane Irene hitting New York, the local residents were dissatisfied.
Mr. Wang is a farmer who lives in Shiqian County. On Aug. 3 he told The Epoch Times reporter that on his 6000 acres of land, he would be very lucky if 30 percent of the normal crop could be harvested. When the reporter visited him again on Aug. 29, he sadly said, “I have harvested nothing.”
Mr. Yao lives in Malong Village, Dawujiang Town. He told The Epoch Times reporter that there has been almost no rainfall at all this year. Moreover, there is no groundwater in his village. All the villagers have no water to drink and have to fetch water from remote places.
