China flooding claims 55 lives, forces mass evacuations
Sunday, 15 Jun 2008 13:13
Rains have destroyed crops resulting in food shortages and rising prices in many cities
In Focus
inthenews.co.uk talks to Edward Holroyd Pearce, a British businessman whose weekend spent helping out in earthquake-hit Sichuan nearly ended with his death. Full Story
Flooding in southern parts of China has claimed over 50 lives and forced over one million people to leave their homes.
The country's civil affairs ministry says close to 1.3 million people had to leave for safer areas as rain over the past few weeks inundated towns and villages. State television has broadcast footage of relief goods such as water being handed out with boats being used to navigate through flooded streets.
Further rain is expected over the next few days and the country's official Xinhua news agency reports that persistent rain has disrupted the power supply and resulted in damage to crops.
It also reports rising food prices of between 30 and 70 per cent on Saturday alone in the cities of Guangzhou, Shantou, Chaozhou and Shaoguan as crop shortages led to higher prices.
The country's Office of Flood Control and Drought Relief fears that a major rise in water level could occur at the Xijiang River which could result in further flooding.
China experiences a difficult monsoon season every year but the devastating earthquake which killed over 60,000 people this month means that the country is still dealing with the effects of that natural disaster.