A total of 514,000 residents have been affected by strong winds, hail and rainstorm-triggered floods in east China’s Jiangxi Province, with 45,000 relocated, local authorities said Saturday.
Starting Thursday, it had been raining heavily in the northeastern, central parts of the province, which led to 23 counties and districts of the province being inundated by floodwaters, said Jiangxi provincial emergency management bureau.
As of 11:00 a.m. Saturday, the floods also adversely affected 37,200 hectares of crops and wiped out 2,200 hectares of crops. Fifty-eight houses collapsed into the surging waters, with 88 houses severely damaged and 12,000 residents in urgent need of aid.
Direct economic losses were estimated at 670 million yuan (about 97 million U.S. dollars).
The weather service predicted that the downpour would continue until Tuesday.