Severe floods leave 140 dead or missing, over 30 million affected

A total of 140 people were killed or missing in China due to the floods, with more than 30 million people affected around the country as of Thursday afternoon, authorities said on Friday.

The Ministry of Emergency Management, together with other departments, has conducted research on the latest weather condition and arranged tasks for disaster prevention and risk alert systems at all levels.

Detailed plans for evacuation of the affected and related materials allocation have also been made, in a response to the floods triggered by torrential rain mainly in South and East China.

As of 2 pm Thursday, more than 1.7 million people in 27 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities had been transferred to safe places due to the floods, according to the Ministry.

More than 250,000 houses were destroyed and about 2.6 million hectares of crops were affected. The Ministry estimated that the floods this summer have resulted in a total economic loss of more than 6.1 billion yuan ($871 million).

As of Thursday, more than 430,000 people have been engaged in the flood-fighting and emergency rescues, with 12,811 people being rescued.

More rain is expected across the country in the coming days, following continuous rainstorms that have battered South and East China and caused flooding and other geological disasters over the past month, according to the National Meteorological Center on Thursday.

A new round of precipitation was forecast to hit the provinces of Guizhou, Fujian, Jiangxi and Hunan on Thursday and Friday, the center said.