Stark weather contrasts across China by Kaye Forster
Southern regions of China have been experiencing some of the worst floods in several decades recently and the rain is still falling. Parts of the provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi have had several weeks of heavy rain which has affected more than 4.5 million people since the beginning of April.
It is typically the start of the rainy season here, but the flooding has been some of the worst for almost 50 years in some places, causing almost 180 million pounds worth of damage. Houses have been destroyed, crops washed away and millions of people have been displaced.
Meanwhile, by stark contrast, northern parts of China have been experiencing severe drought. Weeks of dry weather across the Heilongjiang province and China’s northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has turned crops and bushes into tinder. Forest fires have been sparked off across the region and many have been blazing for several days.
More than 22,000 fire-fighters have been called in to tackle the blaze which is now believed to be raging out of control. The Inner Mongolian blaze has already burned through at lease 20 square kilometres of forest.
China is no stranger to extremes in the weather. Every year the country is hit by drought, floods, typhoons and even blizzards.
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