Over 5 lakh affected by heavy rains in China's Jiangxi

JIANGXI: A total of 548,000 people were affected due to the heavy rain since Sunday in China's Jiangxi province on Tuesday, according to the provincial flood control headquarters.

Xinhua News Agency reported that the heavy rain also forced the relocation of 113,000 people, said the headquarters, adding the downpour caused a direct economic loss of about 500 million yuan (74.4 million US dollars).

Although the rain came to an end Wednesday, the local meteorological department said further rainstorms are expected to hit parts of the province next week. It had also suggested cutting off dangerous outdoor power supplies in low-lying areas, transferring people to safe areas, and checking the drainage systems of cities, farmland and fishponds. The centre had advised local governments to make appropriate preparations, implement traffic control measures in road sections hit by heavy rainfall and guide traffic in water-logged sections.

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, reported Xinhua.

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.