China Mobilizes 1 Million to Fight Floods; 650,000 Remain Stranded
Rising flood waters reportedly drove tens of thousands of southern Chinese residents to their rooftops Thursday as heavy seasonal rains continued to swell rivers and lakes.
About 650,000 people were stranded nationwide, and the government mobilized more than 1 million people Thursday to reinforce the banks of the mighty Yangtze when the country’s longest river threatened to flood after swelling to its third-highest level on record.
In Rongshui, a southern Chinese city on the Rong River, residents scrambled onto roofs as floods rose to the fourth floor of buildings, the group Doctors Without Borders said. Most of the town’s 50,000 residents were evacuated to surrounding mountains, it said.
Overall, more than 600 people have died in flooding across 11 provinces and regions since storms started in late June, according to reports earlier this month from the government and the Red Cross.
Chinese authorities often restrict reporting about disasters until days or weeks after they occur.
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