Natural disasters had killed 65 Chinese people by June 4 this
year, the Office of the State Flood Control and Draught Relief
Headquarters said on Tuesday.
A total of 10 million people and 514,650 hectares of crops were
affected by the disasters, said Zhang Zhitong, deputy chief of the
office, adding that the country's major rivers see calm flow at
present.
According to the office, frequent rainstorms hit Chongqing city
and provinces of Hubei, Guangdong, Jiangxi and Anhui in May. The
branches of Jinsha River in southwestern Yunnan Province and
Ganjiang River in central Jiangxi Province saw their water level
exceed the warning lines.
The rainstorms caused flood and landslides in these regions
while the northern areas suffered severe drought as a result of
high temperature and lack of rainfall, said Zhang.
By May 31, 10.32 million people and 10.26 million livestocks had
suffered temporary drinking water shortage and 10.7 million
hectares of arable land were affected by the drought, according
statistics with the office.
Zhang said his office strengthened inspections on flood control
work and other state organs, including ministries of finance,
communications, health and land resources, also organized special
inspection teams.
He said by May 30 the central government had allocated 280
million yuan (US$36.4 million) to subsidize the fight against
severe flood and drought.
(Xinhua News Agency June 6, 2007)