Officials in central provinces blow up more dykes as further rain is forecast
Torrential rains have brought death, destruction and disease to parts of central China, where authorities continue to blow up dykes in an attempt to divert the raging torrents.
At least five people have been killed, 5,370 have been injured or come down with disease and 378,900 evacuated in Anhui province alone, as swollen rivers wreak havoc in the low-lying plains. More than 21 million people have been affected by the floods in the province so far, the officials said.
The flooding has also resulted in direct economic losses of at least 4.8 billion yuan (HK$4.5 billion), according to Wang Hua, an official from the relief bureau of the local civil affairs department.
'We're going through the casualty report at the moment. More names will soon be added to the death toll,' he said.
The official said that more than 14 million farmers in the province would lose at least 30 per cent of their crops this year. About 4,920 sq km of farmland would not bear any crops, he said.
More than 100,000 of the evacuees were staying in tents and makeshift shelters that had been assembled by the relief bureau, Mr Wang said. The China News Service said 32,000 homes had collapsed and a further 120,000 had been damaged.
