China hit by deadly flooding, severe drought
Pastor Dale Morgan
China hit by deadly flooding, severe drought*
BEIJING, May 25 (AFP) May 25, 2007
Torrential rain in southwest China triggered flash floods and mudslides
that have left 21 dead, while a neighbouring region is suffering its
worst drought in 60 years, state media reported Friday.
A further 11 people are missing following the rains in Sichuan province
and Chongqing municipality, Xinhua news agency said, in the latest
extreme weather to ravage the country.
More than 360 people have been hurt and 112,000 evacuated in the
disasters in a region that only last year endured its worst drought in
half a century.
Meanwhile, more than 1.6 million people in Gansu province to the north
face drinking water shortages due to the worst drought there since the
1940s.
The dry spell, which has had no significant rainfall in some areas for
more than two months, is endangering crops or delaying planting on 1.46
million hectares (3.6 million acres) of cropland, Xinhua quoted
officials with the Gansu provincial flood control and drought relief
office as saying.
China last year suffered a range of extreme weather events including
exceptionally strong typhoons, floods, and droughts, which
meteorological officials have partly attributed to the affects of
climate change.
Officials warned recently that similar weather is expected in 2007.