Central Chinese province submerged in unique precipitation over millennium

BEIJING, July 21 (Reuters) – Vast swathes of central China’s Henan Province were underwater on Wednesday, with its capital Zhengzhou the hardest hit after being flooded by what meteorologists called the heaviest rainfall since 1,000 years.

In Zhengzhou, a city of more than 12 million people on the banks of the Yellow River, 12 people have died so far amid the flooding and around 100,000 people have been evacuated to safe areas, the agency reported. Xinhua official, citing the local government.

The lives of millions of people in Henan have been turned upside down since the weekend in an unusually active rainy season which has led to the rapid rise of a number of rivers in the Yellow River basin.

The streets of a dozen towns have been flooded, while dozens of water reservoirs and dams have exceeded alert levels. Read more

Overnight, local authorities said the rain had caused a 20-meter breach in the Yihetan Dam in Luoyang City west of Zhengzhou, and that the dam “could collapse at any time.”

Zhengzhou Flood Control Headquarters said the city’s Guojiazui Reservoir had been breached.

“Some rivers have exceeded surveillance levels, some dams have broken down, while some rail services have stopped and flights have been canceled, causing heavy loss of life and property,” President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday. the situation in a statement broadcast by public television.

“The flood prevention efforts have become very difficult,” Xi said.

From Saturday evening until late Tuesday, 617.1 millimeters (mm) of rain flooded Zhengzhou – almost on par with the annual average of 640.8 mm.

The level of rainfall observed in Zhengzhou over the three days was only observed once every thousand years, local media said citing meteorologists.

Of the 4,098 rainfall stations in Henan, 606 have recorded more than 250mm of precipitation since the weekend, with heavy rains expected to persist until Wednesday, the province’s weather forecast chief told the national media.

The meteorological offices of Henan Province and Zhengzhou Municipality have both raised the emergency response to the disaster to Level I.

Zhengzhou Airport announced on Tuesday evening that it would temporarily suspend subways and intercity trains to and from the airport, and that it would not accept incoming flights by 8:00 p.m. local time (1200 GMT) on Tuesday. at 12:00 p.m. Wednesday.

Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru, Josh Horwitz and Jing Wang in Shanghai and Ryan Woo in Beijing; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Jacqueline Wong

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