Floods in China kill 560, affect 59M this year

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - The devastating floods in China this year have killed at least 560 people, affecting nearly 59 million others in various regions of the country, officials said on Monday.

Zhou Xuewen, the vice minister of China’s emergency management, told a news conference that floods, between January and October, affected a total of 58.9 million people, while 590 others were killed or are still missing.

The devastating floods, he said, caused the relocation of around 3.51 million people, while 203,000 houses collapsed.

“The economic losses caused by the floods rose to 240.6 billion yuan ($37.6 billion),” the vice minister noted, according to Chinese daily The Paper.

Chinese authorities this year recorded abnormally higher rainfall in many regions.

Heavy downpour caused a heavy deluge in Shanxi, Henan, and Hubei provinces since July in China, causing rivers to overflow, break barriers, and damage the electricity-producing dams.

Zhou said the flood disaster was “more serious than in previous years.”

The Emergency Management Ministry initiated at least 11 national disaster relief emergency responses to floods in various regions, he added.