China – Over 1 Million Affected by Floods in Hubei

Over 1 million people have been affected by flooding and heavy rain in China’s Hubei province over the last few days.

Three Gorges Dam China. Image: NASA

Local media reports, quoting information from the Hubei Provincial Emergency Management Office, said heavy rain began on 27 June. Wide areas of the province were affected by river and flash flooding, including the cities of Yichang, Xiangyang, Jingmen, Xiaogan, Huanggang and Enshi. Images and videos shared on Social Media also showed flooding in the provincial capital, Wuhan.

As of 29 June 1.2 million people in the province were affected and 9,722 people had been moved to emergency accommodation. A total of 478 houses collapsed due to the disaster and 2,241 houses were damaged.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) said the floods were a result of torrential rains in the Yangtze river basin coupled with the release of floodwater from the massive Three Gorges hydroelectric dam upstream.

RFA added: “In the Yangtze river city of Yichang, residents blamed recent releases of water from the Three Gorges and Gezhouba dams upstream of the city for flooding in their backyard.”

Heavy rainstorms dumped 272 mm of rain on Yichang in 24 hours on 27 June, the largest amount since records began, according to RFA.

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