July 2007
Each summer, flooding rains sweep
down China's river basins, forcing people from their homes, destroying
businesses, and carrying crops away. This year has brought
"once-in-a-century" rains and floods, Chinese President Hu Jintao said
Sunday.
After a month of heavy rains, flood warnings are being issued in many
parts of China as more heavy rain is forecast for the southwestern,
central and eastern regions over the next few days.
The Central Meteorological Station forecast today that heavy rain would
hit Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hubei, Henan and Anhui provinces overnight
and on Tuesday.
Flood control authorities in eastern Anhui province issued an emergency
notice today warning local authorities that water might break through
soaked dykes designed to control the swollen rivers.
On the weekend, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the southwest
municipality of Chongqing where the heaviest rainfall in years came down
in mid-July. The resulting floods, landslides and mud-rock flows killed 42
in the city over the past week, according to the state-run Xinhua News
Agency.
"You have gone through a lot of hardship," the president told Chongqing
residents, Xinhua reports. "The once-in-a-century rains and floods have
destroyed your homes and washed away your belongings. I feel sad as you
all, and we must have the determination and courage to get over the
disaster."
The president directed local officials to provide enough meal, clothes,
accommodation, medication and clean water to the public, and to spare no
effort to rebuild roads and recover drinking water and electricity
services.
Since mid-June, more than 100 million Chinese have been affected by the
rains and flooding. Officials say 425 people have died, while 110 are
missing.
An estimated 3.6 million people have been forced from their homes.
The government is mobilizing nearly 380,000 people, including People's
Liberation Army troops, to provide relief.
China's Ministry of Health Monday ordered local health departments to
intensify disease prevention in flood-stricken areas.
The ministry said in a notice that provincial health departments must
report their disease monitoring results every day and to ensure that no
fatal epidemic diseases break out.
The ministry has allocated 39.88 million yuan (US$5.24 million) to the
flood-hit areas for disease control.
According to statistics on the ministry's website, 980 counties in 23
Chinese regions have been affected by various rainstorms and floods since
the middle of May.
On July 18, the Ministry of Health sent four teams to flood-stricken areas
including Jiangsu and Anhui to assist medical services.
The Red Cross Society of China, RCSC, is also responding to the immediate
needs of flood victims in 13 provinces, providing supplies worth over 10
million yuan (US$1.4 million).
The RCSC launched a national appeal for its ongoing flood relief
operations in Beijing on July 18. seeking supplies and financial
assistance to further help victims in these and other regions.
In Anhui alone, more than 300,000 people are facing shortages of clean
water. As the rains continue to beat down, concerns are mounting that
displaced residents will have to cope with long-term food shortages due to
destruction of farmland.
The highest death toll has been in Sichuan Province, where at least 42
people have died and 26 others are missing. Flooding and landslides have
affected nearly 1.1 million people and caused the evacuation of more than
300,000 people, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Director of the National Meteorological Center, Jiao Meiyan blames climate
change for the torrential rains in Sichan and the city of Chongqing, which
both experienced drought last summer.
Jiao said Sichuan and Chongqing came under a strong subtropical high
pressure belt in 2006, which caused high temperatures. But the belt has
been in a more eastern position this year, which made it much easier for
water vapor from the Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea to accumulate
over Sichuan and Chongqing, he said.
He rejected rumors that the Three Gorges Dam was in any way to blame for
the unusual weather.
The highest flood peak this flood season on the Yangtze River passed
through the Three Gorges Dam on Sunday, project engineers said.
The third flood this season caused by continuous rain upstream since
mid-July, poured into the reservoir in central China's Hubei Province.
Zhao Yunfa, a senior engineer with China Yangtze Three Gorges Project
Corporation told Xinhua that 17 sluice gates have been opened to keep
water level below the designed 144 meters and to ease the flood pressure
on the mid-lower reaches.
At present, the project is working normally, said Zhao.
The Three Gorges reservoir, the world's largest hydroelectric project, was
built on China's longest river, the Yangtze, to prevent floods and
generate electricity.
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