CHINA: 536 People Killed and Over One Million Evacuated in Heavy Floods

Flooded cities and villages were the scenery where thousands of victims tried to make the best of whatever goods they could save. Upturned beds and other pieces of furniture were quickly transformed into rafts, boats and whatever device that floats.

The already enormous flood waters, which have submerged different cities will be continued with other heavy rains forecast for the weekend.

Torrential summer rains have taken the authorities by surprise, as they came earlier than expected, causing important damages in 22 provinces and a high economic loss evaluated to $2.45 billion, according to the statement of the Office of State Floods Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

The most affected areas were the city of Wuzhou, and the provinces of Fujian, Guangxi and Guangdong.

Rivers from southern Chinese areas rising well past danger level have burst their banks, and soon everything went under muddy waters; 97 people were reported dead last week, and 41 are still declared missing in the region. Over 76 million acres of crops were compromised.

Most of the 300,000 residents from the city of Wuzhou had no choice but to improvise rafts and boats to escape the fury of the waters approaching upper floors of their homes.


Most houses in the city of Wuzhou were floded up to the roofs as result of the Xijiang river rose to 26.75 metres, 9.45 metres above the danger mark, and residents from downtown area were forced to take cover in upper-storey appartments of higher ground and find shelter under wherever the ground was stable.

One Wuzhou resident said flood alarms had stopped ringing that the water was starting to fall back. The government has sent the People's Liberation Army troops to build sand-bad dams and try to keep the waters at bay. So far, only urban residents have been resqued by the government and little effort has been shown to protect the people in the countryside

The Xiamen Railway Station from Fujian had to suspend all trains after a sever railway lines disruption, while 91 reservoirs and over 53 dikes from Guangxi were seriously damaged.

Almost 1.4 million people of the 45 million residents affected in the severe floods have been evacuated from their houses. Senior high school entrance examinations were postponed in some of the most affected cities.