Floods Due To Heavy Rains Hit Sichuan Province, Chinese Government Evacuates 80,000 People

JAKARTA - More than 80,000 people have been evacuated due to heavy rains and flooding in southwest China's Sichuan Province, state media reported on Monday.

The water level of major rivers in the province was above warning levels, following heavy rains from Friday to Sunday. One reservoir in Dazhou City exceeded the flood limit by 2.2 meters, according to the official China News Agency.

Quoted from Reuters Monday, August 9, more than 440,000 in six cities across the province were reportedly affected by the floods.

State television station CCTV reported on Saturday that heavy rains had caused an economic loss of 250 million yuan (US$38.57 million) in Sichuan, with 45 houses destroyed and 118 severely damaged.

Despite heavy rains every summer, Chinese experts are warning authorities to increase the resilience of their cities, as extreme weather has become more frequent in recent times.

China's weather authority official told reporters last week that rising temperatures have increased the likelihood of heavy rains around the world, and that the impact on China is likely to get worse in the coming years.

"Extreme events such as high temperatures and heavy rainfall have increased and the level of climate risk in China is increasing," said Chao Qingchen, deputy director of the National Climate Center, a state think tank.

He added that higher temperatures and rainfall make China's water resources more vulnerable, while warning that extreme weather is also a greater threat to economic development.

Last month, China's Henan Province experienced the worst rainstorm in history, with 19 state weather stations recording the highest daily rainfall ever.

The floods killed more than 300 people, mostly in the provincial capital Zhengzhou, which saw nearly a year of rain in just one day, China's weather bureau said at the time.