China's Jiangxi issues highest alert for floods

Jiangxi [China], June 20 (ANI): East China's Jiangxi Province on Monday issued a red alert for floods, as local hydrological stations registered water in local rivers at warning levels.

The heavy rain that lashed Jiangxi has brought the first floods this year in Changjiang River and Xiuhe River in the province, according to the provincial hydrological monitoring center, reported Xinhua.

The center estimated that the water level would continue to rise in the coming four days in Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, due to the heavy rain and that a flood may form as the water may rise around 0.4 meters above the warning level.

According to the meteorological department, rainfall will continue until Tuesday, and heavy rain will occur in some parts of northern and central Jiangxi, posing risks of floods, mountain torrents, urban and rural waterlogging and geological disasters.

The province had lifted its level IV flood-control emergency response on June 7, as the heavy rainfall process had basically ended. Authorities have called for close monitoring of weather changes and efficient flood control and drought relief efforts.

The extreme weather has caused direct economic losses of 2.65 billion yuan (about 400 million US dollars) after destroying farmland and houses. A total of around 83,000 people were evacuated during the period.

According to local authorities, the torrential rains and rain-induced floods since May 28 have wreaked havoc in 80 counties of the province.

Last year, the torrential rains in Zhengzhou, the capital of China's central province of Henan saw many deaths and China stepped up its emergency rescue and disaster relief efforts in the central province, as per the media outlet.

Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) had deployed a team of firefighters with expertise in water rescue to the flood-hit regions together with remote water supply trucks and rubber boats.

China has a four-tier colour-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue. (ANI)

Source: WORLD