Flooding has been reported in at least 6 provinces in southern and eastern China after heavy rain and severe weather including hail, since 11 May, 2017.
The recent flooding comes after thousands of people were forced to evacuate their homes in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, on 07 May 2017 after huge amounts of rainfall.
According to China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA), as of May 15, 2017, the recent severe weather and flooding had affected areas of Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Chongqing, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces.
MCA said that 4 deaths have been reported, one in each of the provinces of Jiangxi, Hunan, Yunnan and Guangxi. Crops and buildings have suffered severe damage.
Almost 2,000 people needed emergency rescue in Jiangxi, where 200 houses have reportedly collapsed.
According to MCA, more than 1,600 people evacuated their homes and required emergency resettlement in Jiangxi (700 people), Chongqing (300), Fujian (200), Guizhou (200), Hubei (100) and Hunan (100).
Rainfall
Rainfall figures from WMO for 24 hour period to 16 May
- Xiamen – 58.7 mm
- Mei Xian – 74.1 mm
- Shantou – 65 mm
- Shanwei – 71.7 mm
- Shenzhen – 69.2 mm
- Heyuan – 93.2 mm
- Danxian – 52.2 mm
- Yaxian – 79.2 mm
- Mengla – 71.2 mm
- Gaoyao – 70.4 mm
- Guangzhou – 86.7 mm
- Shangchuan Dao – 119.0 mm
Rainfall figures from WMO for 24 hour period to 15 May
- Fogang – 51 mm
- Mengshan – 105 mm
- Liuzhou – 71.1 mm
- Hechi – 57.4 mm
- Yangjiang – 106 mm
- Qinzhou – 50.3 mm
Heavy rain has affected wide areas of the region over the last 2 days, with many places reporting over 50 mm of rain in 24 hours, stretching from eastern China and Taiwan to south west China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and as far as Bangladesh.
Natural Disasters in April
Chinese News Agency, Xinhua, reported last week that natural disasters in China caused the deaths of 23 people in April, according to a statement from the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the National Commission for Disaster Reduction.
Over 11,000 people were displaced, over 1,000 houses collapsed and more than 13,500 houses were damaged. About 112,000 hectares of crops were affected, with more than 6,500 hectares destroyed, according to the statistics.
The statement said natural disasters in April have caused 143 million U.S. dollars in direct economic losses.
