Editorial | Now China must rise to floods challenge after Covid-19 fight
- Economically and politically, the country – especially the initial coronavirus epicentre of Wuhan and Hubei province – can ill afford another heavy blow
Floods are a perennial problem in the mainland. What sets those in central and southern China apart is not just that in some places they are the worst in decades, stranding people in homes and cars and sweeping away roads and other infrastructure.
They have also landed a devastating blow to areas still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, including the initial epicentre of the outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei province – a central transport hub.
The distraction of the contagion did nothing for flood preparations. People in the path of the floods now face a new threat to their health and livelihoods, and sometimes their lives.
The latest crisis has directly affected more than 34 million people living in 27 of China’s 31 provinces along the Yangtze River since late May, with the toll of the dead and missing soaring past 140.
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It has knocked off balance countless communities still picking themselves up from the blow of tragic personal loss and suffering wrought by the virus, and clouded the outlook for agricultural production, fundamental to a sustained recovery from the pandemic.
For the local authorities and the country’s leaders, it is a huge challenge, just when they have barely seen off the virus and remain on alert for a another wave of infections. The worst is not over, with the likelihood of more heavy downpours over large areas.