Southern China's 12 provinces and municipalities hit by floods, over 130 people dead or missing

Reporters learned from the National Headquarters for Flood Control and Drought Relief today that, since the beginning of this year, 12 provinces and cities in China including Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Guizhou etc. had been hit by floods of different degrees. The population affected reached more than 9 million and over 130 people were dead or missing.

Since June 26, a large-scale and high-intensity rainstorm occurred in China from the north to south. This was the strongest rainstorm since the flood season began this year. It mainly has five characteristics: First, it has a wide range of influence. 12 provinces and cities including Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian, Henan, Anhui, Hubei, Jiangsu and Shanghai were affected in different degrees; Second, it has great intensity. The area with rainfall above 100 mm is 46,900 square kilometers and the area with rainfall above 50 mm is 449,400 square kilometers; Third, there are many rainfall centers. A strong rain belt formed from west to east and there are several strong rainfall centers such as Pingxiang of Jiangxi, Zhuzhou of Hunan, and Southwest Guizhou; Fourth, the water level rose rapidly. Affected by continuous heavy rains, water levels of some rivers in Hunan, Jiangxi, Guizhou, Zhejiang and Guangxi rose sharply. Some tributaries such as Xiangjiang River and Yuanjiang River of Hunan, Qiantangjiang River of Zhejiang, Mengjiang River and Lijiang River of Guilin had floods beyond warning levels and some tributaries even had floods beyond guarantee water levels; Fifth, the disaster was serious.

So far this year, 12 provinces and cities including Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi and Guizhou etc. suffered floods of different degrees. Nationwide, the flood-affected crop area is 566,000 hectares, the population affected is 9.12 million, 93 people died because of the disaster, 43 people were missing, 40,000 houses collapsed (excluding earthquake collapse houses), and direct economic losses were about 5 billion yuan RMB. The tourism of Guilin was also seriously affected.