132 die in China floods with more on way

A week of torrential rain causes billions of dollars worth of damage and 86 people are still missing.

China's National Meteorological Centre warned that several counties in Jiangxi province had been reduced to islands isolated by flood water. Above, a street in Yujiang county.

BEIJING // The death toll from severe flooding in south and south-east China reached at least 132 yesterday, and more heavy rains were expected today. More than a week of downpours in areas including China's manufacturing heartland of Guangdong province has forced more than 800,000 people to be rescued from their homes and caused billions of dollars worth of damage.

The torrential rains, which have intensified in the past three days, followed the worst drought in a century in parts of southern China. China's ministry of water resources said yesterday that, as well as the 132 dead from flooding and landslides since torrential rains started on June 13, 86 people were missing. The damage caused by the rain has been put at 14.5 billion yuan (Dh 7.79bn).More than 70 cities have been hit by floods and landslides and more than 80 rivers have risen past safe levels.

The government said 178,000 homes had been damaged, 68,000 had collapsed and about two million acres of crops affected. State television aired pictures of crops submerged by water. Transportation has been heavily affected, with roads blocked, trains cancelled and flights delayed, leaving tens of thousands stranded. Earlier reports from state media indicated that more than 1.4 million people living on river banks and other low-lying areas had fled their homes since the deluge began.

Further thunderstorms were expected to hit the affected areas last night and into this morning, compounding the misery of residents. On Friday the National Meteorological Centre issued an orange storm alert, which is one category below the most serious storm warning, a red alert. In a statement on its website, the centre said "relentless rainstorms have been rampaging the south with no remorse", adding that some lakes had swollen "dramatically". The organisation said yesterday it was still issuing an orange rainstorm warning.

"Several counties in Jiangxi [province] have been reduced to islands isolated by flood water," the centre said, adding that transport and communications links, and water supplies had been cut off. The government-controlled China Daily newspaper reported over the weekend that nine local officials in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in the south had been punished for failing to monitor the floods adequately. One person supposed to monitor reservoir levels in Cangwu county in the region was caught playing poker at the time, the newspaper said.

Among the victims of the flooding was a police officer killed during a rescue attempt in Guangdong province, China Daily reported, while five migrant workers were washed away to their deaths in Guangxi. The official Xinhua news agency said 12 people died in a landslide in Fujian province, while seven were rescued. Dramatic television pictures have shown rescues by helicopter, truck and boat, while picture agencies have released images of people in the eastern province of Zhejian wading through waist-high water as they attempted to cross a flooded bridge.

Southern China usually receives heavy rains from May onwards each year, with average monthly rainfall in the capital of Guangdong province, Guangzhou, for example, typically more than 250mm in May and June, and not dropping significantly until September. Flooding is also commonly seen each year in the Yangtze and other major rivers. However, this month's rains have been unusually severe and have seen flooding spread to nine provinces and regions in the south and along the eastern coast.

This month's flooding comes in the wake of a severe drought in the southern provinces and regions of Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan. More than 12m acres of crops were destroyed and millions were left without drinking water. While heavy rains are expected to continue to lash southern China, northern parts of the country will enjoy what the National Meteorological Centre described as "scorching" temperatures of up to 37C.

[e-mail] * With additional reporting by the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse