Southern China Braces for Another Round of Heavy Rains

Southern China has once again been put on high alert for a new round of heavy rains.

The National Meteorological Center has issued an orange alert for heavy downpours in the days ahead. It warns that torrential rains will hit a dozen provincial-level regions, especially in Anhui and Hubei provinces.

Ying Ying has the details.

Reporter:
In Hubei Province, lingering heavy rains have plagued the region since the beginning of the month, affecting more than 3 million people.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs says that heavy rains and floods in the province have killed six people and left two missing.

Local authorities have deployed rescuers to evacuate residents and combat flooding in communities.

"I have been carrying sandbags to fence off the flooding without a rest in 12 hours."

In neighboring Anhui Province, torrential rains are also predicted to rage on for a week.

Wang Dongyong is Deputy Director of the Anhui Provincial Meteorological Center.

"From today, many parts of the province will experience nearly weeklong torrential rains. The cities of Anqing, Chizhou, Tongling, and Xuancheng will bear the brunt of the downpours. These regions should prepare themselves for flooding and geological disasters, like mud flows, triggered by the rain."

Local officials say part of the Yangtze River that flows through the province is brimming with water. They warn that dikes that have been under great pressure might burst amid the heavy rainfall.

The provincial flood control agency has sent four teams to inspect the local flood situation and help local people deal with the hazard.

Meanwhile, official figures indicate the heavy rains have already flooded more than 75,000 hectares of farmland in the two provinces.

Zheng Dawei, a professor at China Agricultural University, gives some advice for local farmers to reduce their losses.

"If paddy fields are soaked by heavy downpours, farmers should drain the fields in a timely manner. They should also add some fertilizer to the fields to make up for the loss of nutrition."

Wang Yapeng, a professor at Huazhong Agricultural University, says farmers can also find alternatives to offset their losses.

"If the floods destroy the paddy fields, farmers can make use of the fields to plant crops that have a short growing season, like vegetables and legumes."

Southern China has been plagued by a series of heavy rains and flooding since early May.

The last round of bad weather affected regions lying south of the two provinces, including Jiangxi and Hunan provinces.

Official figures indicate the bad weather has killed at least 480 people nationwide. Direct economic losses have amounted to more than 90 billion yuan.

For CRI, I'm Yingying.