Floods in Southern China Kill 30 People, Leave 15 Missing

At least 33 people died and 15 went missing as a result of huge floods the southern provinces of China, People's Daily (Renmin Ribao) newspaper reported Tuesday, citing the local administration.

BEIJING (Sputnik) — Heavy rains began in China last weekend, and since then the disaster has affected more than 9.5 million people.

The authorities have evacuated hundreds of thousands of people from the affected areas in the provinces of Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou as well as Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region and Chongqing city. Direct economic damage to the country is estimated to be about 18 billion yuan ($2.65 billion).

Over 30 dead, hundreds of thousands evacuated as floods ravage southern China — South China Morning Post https://t.co/BrIGN1485r pic.twitter.com/LbpdD7kpLW

— newsa.com (@newsacom) 4 июля 2017 г.

​More than 19,000 homes were destroyed and about 189,000 buildings damaged. Over 668 million hectares of cultivated agricultural land have also been affected.

According to meteorologists, the rains in several provinces, including Sichuan and Hunan, will continue until Sunday.