Deadly rains abate but summer floods await

The deadly torrential rain that swept across the country over the past few days began weakening yesterday, but officials warned of flooding in the middle and downstream reaches of the Yellow River.

The storms have abated in southern China, the worst-hit area, but will continue to affect southeast coastal areas, especially Fujian and Guangdong provinces, until tomorrow, the Central Meteorological Observatory said yesterday.

But there remains a danger of geological disasters such as mud slides after continuous rain washing away soil, the observatory said.

The rainstorms have been China's most damaging since 2000, said Chen Lei, minister of water resources and deputy head of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters. The disaster has affected 5.19 million residents in 10 provinces, including Fujian, Jiangxi and Gansu, and led to direct economic losses of 4.3 billion yuan (US$680 million).

The storms have left 69 people dead and at least 25 others missing, including, in central Hunan Province, four children who lost their lives when a wall collapsed on Monday and six people missing after a bridge was brought down on Sunday.

"An increasing incidence of extreme weather and natural disasters, including rainstorms, are hitting the country in recent years with the impact of global warming ... they are increasingly difficult to forecast and prevent," Chen said.

Chen Xiaojiang, director of the national Yellow River flood control office, said yesterday that flooding was likely to strike the Huanghuai Areas, or sections along the Yellow and Huaihe rivers in the northern regions, at some point this summer.

A 50 percent increase in rainfall is expected along the two rivers in Shandong, Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces this summer compared to previous years, Chen told the annual Yellow River flood control meeting.

"The longer a severe flood failed to occur in the area, the more possibility that a great flood will happen," Chen said.

The last severe flood on the Yellow River was in 1958 when more than 20,000 cubic meters per second of water hit downstream areas. It has been 30 years since a less severe flood, at some 10,000 cubic meters per second, affected the river.

The headquarters is to take measures to ensure the safety of dams upstream on the Yellow River as about 1.9 million residents live in the plain areas downstream, Chen said.