People make their way with boats through a flooded area in Liuzhou, Guangxi province, China, July 2, 2017.
© ReutersPeople make their way with boats through a flooded area in Liuzhou, Guangxi province, China, July 2, 2017.
Further heavy rain in parts of central and southern China has caused flooding and landslides, affecting 11 provinces and around 9.5 million people.

Parts of southern China are still recovering from deadly flooding and landslides after a period of heavy rain between 22 and 26 June, 2017.

After a few days respite, the heavy rain began again on 29 June and severe flooding has been reported in central and southern Guizhou, central and northern parts of Guangxi and northern Hunan, according to China's Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA).

Other areas currently affected include Zhejiang, Guangdong, Yunnan, northern Jiangxi, eastern Hubei, southern Anhui and parts of Chongqing and Sichuan provinces.

MCA reported on 04 July that 56 people have died and 22 were missing. Twenty-seven thousand houses have been destroyed and over 180,000 damaged. Vast areas of crops have also been damaged. Total economic losses have exceeded 25 billion yuan.



Hunan

One of the worst hit areas is Hunan, where 34 fatalities have been reported, with a further 8 missing. As many as 22,000 houses have collapsed or been destroyed and around 170,000 damaged. Hunan Provincial Civil Affairs Department estimate economic losses in the province at over 19 billion yuan. Among the affected areas are the cities of Zhuzhou, Xiangtan, Shaoyang, Huaihua and the provincial capital Changsha.

Levels of the Xiangjiang river in Changsha have reportedly exceeded previous records set during the major floods of 1998.

Rescuers evacuate people by boat during a flood in Xinshao county, Hunan province.
© ReutersRescuers evacuate people by boat during a flood in Xinshao county, Hunan province.
Guangxi

Sixteen people have died and 11 are missing after major flooding in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Some of the affected areas include the cities of Nanning, Liuzhou and Guilin.

Almost half a million people have been affected in the region with around 135,000 people evacuated. Over two thousand houses have collapsed and more than 12,000 damaged.


Rivers

Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that the Xiangjiang river, which runs through the city of Changsha in Hunan, stood at 39.21m early on Sunday 02 July, which is 3.2 metres above warning levels and above the previous record of 39.18m set in 1998.

Elsewhere in Hunan, the level of Dongting Lake surpassed the warning level of 32.5 meters at the Chenglingji hydrological station on Saturday 01 July, 2017.

Zhang Jiatuan, spokesman for China's State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, warned of potential major flooding on the Zhujiang (Pearl) River, Lake Tai and the Huaihe River.

Rainfall

Figures from China Meteorological Administration (CMA) for a 24 hour period, 03 to 04 July, 2017.

Beihai, Guangxi - 189.2 mm

Yangjiang, Guangdong - 152.5 mm

Fangchenggang, Guangxi - 149 mm

Taishan, Guangdong - 100.4 mm

Xinhua reported that parts of Ningyuan County in Hunan received 264.2 mm of rain within 24 hours between 01 and 02 July.

CMA figures show that some areas of southern China have received 200% more rainfall than normal since 24 June.

Rainfall anomaly in China from 24 June to 04 July, 2017.
© CMARainfall anomaly in China from 24 June to 04 July, 2017.