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2008 South China floods

A flooded road in Shenzhen, China
Duration	May 26 - Present
Damages	$2.2 billion 12
Fatalities	more than 200 dead or missing
Areas affected	Sichuan, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, Hong Kong

The 2008 South China floods began on May 26, 2008. Four rounds of torrential rains with landslides and flooding lasted for 20 days and affected fifteen provinces in Eastern and Southern China.³

The first round of floods affected twelve provinces in South China and killed 93 people as of May 30.⁴ A new round of floods began on June 6 and swept nine provinces in southern China killing 55 people with 7 missing and forcing 1.3 million to evacuate as of June 14.⁵ China's National Meteorological Centre has said that heavy rain would continue and that precipitation in the provinces of Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan would be 30 to 70% greater than in the same period last year.

Mainland China

Mainland provinces affected include Anhui, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong.⁶

May

China Daily reported that torrential rains in the southern provinces killed 64 people in May.⁷ According to State Flood Control and Drought Relief headquarters, floods have claimed 59 lives up to this point of the year.⁸

June

From May 28 to June 2, some places in Guangdong experienced heavy rainfalls. After 7 days, flood situations were investigated by the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) on June 3.⁹ The State Flood Control and Drought Relief headquarters and National Meteorological Centre (NMC) both raised emergency levels expecting more torrential rain and thunderstorms.⁷ On the weekend of June 7-8, Guangzhou Daily reported it to be the heaviest rain storm in 50 years for Guangdong province.¹⁰⁷ Wuzhou was struck with their worst flooding in 100 years.¹¹ In two days the rainfall in some areas measured more than 400 millimetres (15.7 inches).¹⁰

On June 14, the Ministry of Water Resources said about 1 million hectares of farmland have been affected with the worst hit provinces being Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan and Hubei.⁸ From May 25 to June 14, up to 18 people have died, including 2.22 million people were affected in 17 cities in Guangdong. The average rainfall of 415 mm (16.3 in) was double the long-term level, with the media reporting it as "Freak rain".¹²

On June 15, more than 300 places in Shenzhen were submerged underwater.⁶ Floods have forced more than 1.66 million people to evacuate, caused 67,000 houses to collapse, and killed 63 people.¹³¹ Three days later officials in Guangdong warned of a "black june" as high tides, rain and rivers threatened levees. Across the region, 169 were reported killed in the floods.²

On June 21, the main precipitation areas include the Huaihe river valleys, Guizhou, Sichuan and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Heavy rain follow in Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Chongqing, Sichuan, Qinghai, and Inner Mongolia.¹⁴ At the end of the month, 252 people were killed in the rainstorms and flooding.¹⁵

Hong Kong

June

On June 7 more than 400 mm (16 in) of rain fell on Lantau Island and more than 300 mm (12 in) fell on Hong Kong island.¹⁶ By noon, almost 40 landslides and 156 floods were reported.¹⁷ In Tsim Sha Tsui the 124-year record of rainfall per hour was smashed, with 145.5 mm (5.73 inches) of rainfall being recorded. The North Lantau Highway was blocked, for the first time since 1997, by a landslide¹⁶. Land traffic to the village of Tai O was cut off, forcing the government to increase the frequency of ferries to and from the village. Newspaper vendors in the streets reported that the water came very fast, flooding the area within five minutes to thigh-deep level. One of the landslides killed two people in Tuen Mun. The Hong Kong Observatory thus changed the "amber rainstorm" warning to a "black rainstorm" warning.¹⁶

References

External links

• China View
• BBC News
• Reuters
• 2008 South China floods, Sina.com (Chinese)