China tells regional officials to ready for disasters after months of torrential rain

BEIJING: Chinese regional officials need to prepare for potential disasters and ensure relief in a timely manner as the flood season reaches a critical period, a government official warned on Friday after months of torrential rains nationwide.

China routinely faces heavy flooding during its summer, but record-breaking rain in some regions this year has highlighted the challenges it faces as it tries to adapt to climate change, with temperatures also reaching fresh highs.

Zhou Xuewen, vice minister at China’s Ministry of Emergency Management, told a briefing that as the “critical period” starting in mid-July approaches, officials at all levels needed to “grasp the potential risks”.

He urged them to prepare funds and relief materials and take action to minimise casualties, adding that officials should also take heed of the risks of COVID-19 outbreaks following major disasters.

Since the flood season began in March, average rainfall across the country is 10.7% higher than normal, and has doubled in some parts of the south. Rain in the Pearl River basin in the southeastern province of Guangdong is at its highest on record.

The floods have submerged farmland, interrupted power and communications, affected roads and destroyed homes, with emergency response teams deployed throughout the country to administer relief. Zhou said as many as 487 rivers have exceeded their flood warning levels this year, while more than 1.2 million people have been evacuated, with direct economic losses hitting nearly 65 billion yuan ($9.70 billion) so far.

China has been striving to improve its ability to cope with extreme weather, and promised in a climate adaptation plan published earlier this year to set up an advanced risk management and prevention system over the next decade.

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Yu Haifeng, an official from China’s Ministry of Natural Resources, told the Friday briefing that the country experienced more geological disasters in the first half of 2022 than the whole of last year, and was facing more “severe challenges” in the second half.