Hundreds of thousands forced to flee heavy rains in China

Heavy rain Last week, it caused landslides in more than 70 cities in the northern province. About 1.76 million people were affected, of whom 120,000 were urgently evacuated.

At least 17,000 homes have either collapsed or been reduced to rubble and just over 190,000 hectares of farmland have been destroyed.

so far Five people died But there is a risk of adjusting the number up.

About 400 mines have been forced to close in the area, of which 60 are coal mines, according to reports Bloomberg. Shanxi is the country’s largest coal producer and the shutdown is expected to affect the country’s problems with electricity supply, which are already significant. Electricity prices have skyrocketed, and they are now making it difficult for Beijing to secure its energy supply before winter. The authorities have also called on other regions of the country to increase coal production.

Heavy rain has continued for several days during the past week has noticed An average of 119.5 mm of rain in the entire province and a maximum of 285.2 mm. Shanxi has a normal average of 31.3 mm for the month of October.

There are no indications that the rains will subside, as it announced on Sunday that more rain and colder weather are expected, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Hao Nan, head of the emergency services center, told China’s Global Times that the flooding was worse than the one that occurred. Earlier this year in Henan Province Where more than 300 people died. Hao Nan believed, however, that the damage so far wasn’t that great, despite the fact that the situation made the rescue service’s work more difficult. The main problem is expected to be the facilitation of cold weather associated with rain.

Shanxi Province has a number of historical and cultural sites that are now in danger of being destroyed. Among other things, the wall around the UNESCO-listed ancient city of Pingyao eroded by rain water.

China experienced one last year Increase in heavy rainAccording to a report by the country’s disaster agency. Between January and September of this year, a total of 791 people died or disappeared due to natural disasters. More than 70 percent of cases are related to heavy rains and floods.

Among other things, heavy rain shook the Central Province Henan in July this yearMore than 300 people have died and 50 are still missing.

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Heavy floods in China – thousands evacuated