Iran Press/ Asia: Five cities in the central Chinese province of Hubei have declared “red alerts” after torrential rain left 21 people dead and forced the evacuation of nearly 6,000 people.
The deaths were recorded in the township of Liulin, part of the city of Suizhou in the north of the province.
According to a report on Friday by the official Xinhua news agency, more than 2,700 houses and shops suffered flood damage, and power, transport, and communications were also disrupted.
Rainfall in some towns in Suizhou exceeded 100mm (3.9 inches) from Wednesday evening to Thursday morning, triggering the flooding.
Some shops along the roadside have been reportedly flooded with water levels reaching the second floor. The region is out of electricity and tap water.
Rescue crews have been dispatched to the worst affected areas, including Suizhou, Xiangyang, and Xiaogan, China’s Ministry of Emergency Management said.
The city of Yicheng also saw a record 400mm (15.7 inches) of rain on Thursday.
Extreme weather in the province has caused widespread power cuts and has damaged more than 3,600 houses and 8,110 hectares (20,040 acres) of crops.
Total losses were estimated at 108 million Chinese yuan ($16.67m), the official China Daily newspaper said on Friday, citing the province’s emergency management bureau.
China regularly experiences flooding during its wet summer months, but authorities have warned that extreme weather is becoming more frequent due to climate change.
Only last weekend, about 80,000 were also evacuated in the southwestern province of Sichuan, and record rainfall in Henan last month caused floods that killed more than 300 people.
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