ECONOMIC IMPACT
Across Hunan province, the rains have affected 1.15 million people, with direct economic losses of 6.13 billion yuan (US$849 million).
Emergency workers rushed this week to seal a breached dyke on the Juanshui River, with two other dyke breaches reported on Jul 28.
Extreme weather crimped China’s factory operations in July while high temperatures and floods hobbled the construction sector, official data showed this week, after last month’s contraction in manufacturing activity.
July was China’s hottest month in modern history, mirroring record high temperatures elsewhere in the world fuelled by climate change.
More harsh weather is in store for China in August, Jia Xiaolong, deputy head of the National Climate Center, said on Thursday, with many regions expected to get more rain than in corresponding periods of previous years.
Up to three typhoons could hit China this month, he added.
Drought might hit the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in central China, Jia added, calling for measures such as cloudseeding to ensure crops grow.
Visiting the central province of Henan this week, Vice Premier Liu Guozhong called for efforts to limit damage to farm output from torrential rain and floods and ensure a bumper autumn harvest.
Henan, known as China’s granary, grows about one-third of its wheat.
