Emergency state: An aerial photo showing submerged buildings after a flood peak in Jiujiang, in central China’s Jiangxi province. — AFP
Nearly a quarter of a million people were evacuated in eastern China as rainstorms lashed swathes of the country and caused the Yangtze and other rivers to swell, state media reported.
China has been enduring extreme weather conditions in recent months, from torrential rainfall to searing heat waves.
The country is the leading emitter of greenhouse gases, which scientists say drive climate change and make extreme weather events more frequent and intense.
State news agency Xinhua said the storms had affected 991,000 residents in Anhui province and forced the evacuation of 242,000 people by Tuesday afternoon.
“As of 4pm on Tuesday, rainstorms had wreaked havoc in 36 counties and districts in seven prefecture-level cities in Anhui,” Xinhua reported, citing the provincial emergency-management department.
It said the Yangtze, China’s longest river, has seen water levels in its Anhui section exceed warning marks and continue to rise.
Torrential rains have also pushed waters above their alert levels in another 20 rivers and six lakes in the province.
Footage on state broadcaster CCTV yesterday showed a section of the Yangtze rising high enough to nearly cover a sculpture in the city of Wuhu that typically stands about 12m above the water line.
Images showed umbrella-carrying volunteers in red jackets patrolling the river’s edge and stockpiling bright red lifejackets and lifebuoys on the shore.
More than 100mm of rainfall was recorded at hundreds of weather stations across Anhui between 5pm on Monday and the same time on Tuesday, according to Xinhua. In Hexi county, about 266mm was recorded. — AFP
