Chinese deluge causes chaos again by Everton Fox
Southern parts of China have seen a deluge of rainfall over the past few days causing severe flooding and landslides. China’s Guangdong province was the worst hit area, particularly the cities of Shenzhen and Dongguan.
According to the Guangdong Provincial Anti-flooding Headquarters, continuous heavy rain had caused over 30 landslides in Shenzhen alone. Many homes, buildings and roads in and around the city were destroyed or damaged.
The Shenzhen Reservoir started to overflow at around noon on Saturday and it wasn’t long before the neighbouring streets and areas were flooded. Traffic was brought to a standstill in the busy downtown areas as cars and buses were stranded in the rising waters.
Shortly after, city officials raised the ‘Black Signal’, the highest flood warning alert and many people were evacuated. However, travel out of the flooded areas was proved to be difficult as more than 60 trains were delayed or cancelled due to mountain torrents and debris on railway tracks.
The city of Donggaun in the southern half of the province reported 366mm (14inches) of rain in just one day, the highest in the city for 24 years.
The rains have also affected the retail industry in the area. Aquatic products and vegetables have seen a 25 percent rise in price over the past few days.
But it is not just the southern provinces that have been swamped by heavy rain. Further north, the province of Shaanxi has also been dealing with excess water. Flooding in the southern half of the province has affected 34 towns, destroyed more than 600 houses and 3,400 hectares of farmland. 100 roads have been cut off due to landslides with an estimated economic loss of 100 million Yuan (£7 million).
The rains started over a week ago and continued for many days as Cheng Zhigong, an official with the Shaanxi Provincial Anti-flood Office explains:
‘Since August 14th, 98 out of Shaanxi’s 108 cities and counties have been hit by continuous heavy rain and more than 200,000 people have fallen victim to floods, landslides and mud-rock flows caused by the rain.’
The rain in Shaanxi is expected to stop on Tuesday but it will continue all through the week in Guangdong, causing more damage to the already sodden land.
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