BEIJING — China braced for more downpours Thursday as the government set up emergency reponse headquarters to combat floods and landslides that have killed over 200 people and forced more than two million from their homes.
The state meteorological bureau warned that more rains were due to pound five hard-hit provinces and regions in southern China in the coming days, as water levels on many rivers surpassed historic highs.
Up to 196 millimetres (eight inches) of rain pummelled parts of Jiangxi and Fujian provinces during a 24-hour period starting Tuesday, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said, warning of landslides and mudflows.
More than 15,000 soldiers had been dispatched to hard-hit areas to help in rescue operations, while militias aided in the evacuation of over 75,000 people in Jiangxi after a dyke burst on the Fuhe river, it added.
The disaster, which has hit 10 southern and central Chinese provinces or regions, has caused an estimated 43 billion yuan (six billion dollars) of economic losses and displaced 2.4 million people since June 13.
At least 211 people have died in the disaster with 119 left missing, the ministry said.
State television showed images of indoor stadiums filled with adults and children forced from their homes, and soldiers were seen patrolling in boats and evacuating people trapped on rooftops and trees surrounded by flood waters.
Aerial footage of Fuzhou city along the Fuhe river showed large swathes of land completely submerged by water.
In Jiangxi, over 680,000 people had been evacuated, while an army of over 2.6 million people were shoring up river and reservoir dykes in an effort to avert further disaster, the official Xinhua news agency said.
The civil affairs ministry late Wednesday ordered the establishment of a rescue and relief centre to coordinate emergency response operations.
This month's floods are among the worst in south China since 1998, when over 3,600 people were killed and more than 20 million displaced, Xinhua said.
And large flood-hit areas of southern and southwestern China, particularly Guizhou, Guangxi and Chongqing, had only just recently emerged from a crippling drought that in some regions was the worst in a century.
