More than 240,000 people evacuated due to torrential rains

More than 240,000 people were evacuated in eastern China after heavy rains fell across a large part of the country, causing the flow of the Yangtze River to swell, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

This Tuesday, July 2 afternoon, the rains had ravaged “36 counties and districts of seven prefectural cities of Anhui, according to the provincial emergency management department” and affected 991,000 inhabitants, 242,000 of whom had to be evacuated, detailed the agency.

At least 38 dead

The news outlet also said that water levels in the Yangtze River, the longest in China at 6,380 kilometers, have exceeded alert thresholds in its part which crosses Anhui, a province in the west. from Shanghai.

The alert levels of 20 other rivers and six lakes in the region have also been raised due to the torrential rain. Last week, four people died and another was missing the day after a landslide in Hunan (central), following record rainfall.

Heavy rains in the preceding days had already caused flooding, particularly in Guangdong province, emblematic of Chinese manufacturing power. At least 38 people lost their lives.