2020 China floods

2020 China floods
Flooded Datong Ancient Town in Tongling, July 2020
Dateearly June[1][2] – September 2020
LocationHunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hubei, Chongqing, Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Yunnan [3][4][5][2]
Deaths219 dead or missing (as of 13 August 2020)[6][4]
Property damageUS$32 billion (as of 12 October 2020)[7][6][8][9][10]

In early June 2020, heavy rains caused by the regional rainy season led to floods severely affecting large areas of southern China including the Yangtze basin and its tributaries. Rains and floods extended to central and eastern China during July[1][2] and were described as the worst since at least 1998.[11]

According to the Ministry of Emergency Management, by the end of June flooding had displaced 744,000 people across 26 provinces with 81 people missing or dead.[3] As of 13 August, the floods have affected 63.46 million people and caused a direct economic loss of 178.96 billion CNY, which are 12.7% and 15.5% higher than the 2015-2019 average, respectively. 219 people were found dead or are missing, and 54,000 houses collapsed, which is 54.8% and 65.3% lower than the 2015-2019 average, respectively.[6] The Ministry of Water Resources said that a total of 443 rivers nationwide have been flooded, with 33 of them swelling to the highest levels ever recorded.[12] According to statistics from the National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA), 76 key national cultural relics and 187 provincial cultural heritage sites have suffered damage of varying degrees.[citation needed]

Affected regions include Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hubei, and Chongqing.[3][5][13] The regions include the upper and middle river basin of the Yangtze and its tributaries. With more rain, floods started to extend to lower regions of the Yangtze basin such as Anhui, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang.[2] Hunan, Fujian, and Yunnan were also affected.

Provinces of China most severely affected by the 2020 floods
  1. ^ a b de Acosta, Rosa (25 July 2020). "China's Mighty Yangtze Is Heaving From Rain and the Three Gorges Will Be Tested". The Wall Street Journal. Eastern Edition. The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d Yu Zeyuan (9 July 2020). "Floods in China: Can the Three Gorges Dam weather 'once-in-a-century massive floods in the Yangtze River'?". Think China. Archived from the original on 11 July 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Linda Lew (27 June 2020). "After coronavirus, flooding hits southern China with 14 million affected". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 29 June 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  4. ^ a b Raymond Zhong (3 July 2020). "Severe Floods in China Leave Over 106 Dead or Missing". New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  5. ^ a b "More Chinese regions brace for floods as storms shift east". Reuters. 29 June 2020. Archived from the original on 29 June 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  6. ^ a b c Wang, Yi (13 August 2020). 今年洪涝灾害造成6346万人次受灾 因灾死亡失踪219人. China News (in Chinese). Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  7. ^ "Global Catastrophe Recap September 2020" (PDF). Aon. 8 October 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  8. ^ "国家防总维持长江、淮河防汛II级响应 国家防办、应急管理部继续部署长江、淮河流域防汛救灾工作 国家防总派出两个工作组检查指导黄河、海河流域防汛备汛工作". Ministry of Emergency Management. 22 July 2020. Archived from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  9. ^ Matsuda, Naoki (23 July 2020). "Anxiety grows as water level in Three Gorges Dam increases". Nikkei Asian Review. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  10. ^ "Worst floods on record cost China $29B".
  11. ^ Evelyn Cheng (14 July 2020). "Floods and the coronavirus create more uncertainty for China as food prices climb". cnbc.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  12. ^ Nectar Gan (14 July 2020). "China has just contained the coronavirus. Now it's battling some of the worst floods in decades". CNN. Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  13. ^ "China – Over 1 Million Affected by Floods in Hubei". FloodList. 30 June 2020. Archived from the original on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.