PERSISTENT heavy rains have continued to batter parts of China, swelling rivers, triggering landslides and prompting the relocation of people.

The Central Government yesterday earmarked 200 million yuan (US$29.92 million) of disaster-relief funds, which will be used to support flood-control efforts in the provinces of Fujian, Jiangxi and Hunan, as well as the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

In Guangdong Province, downpours have triggered floods and landslides. Around 479,600 people in cities including Shaoguan, Heyuan and Meizhou had been affected by the rainfall, according to the provincial emergency management department. The direct economic loss so far is estimated at over 1.7 billion yuan.

Guangdong’s Shaoguan City, where average rainfall since late May has topped all previous records during the same period, raised the flood alert to Level I, the highest, yesterday morning. Residents living on the river banks were asked to relocate to higher ground.

The flood control and drought relief headquarters of East China’s Jiangxi Province upgraded the flood control emergency response to level II on Monday evening, as around 485,000 residents were affected by lingering rain. Direct economic losses reached 470 million yuan, according to the headquarters. Continuous torrential rains have swelled rivers and lakes in Jiangxi, with the water level at Poyang Lake, China’s largest freshwater lake, exceeding the warning level yesterday.

Persistent rain has also battered the neighboring Hunan Province since Friday. As of 8 a.m. yesterday, 250,473 people had been affected by rainstorms in Hunan, the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters said. Heavy precipitation has resulted in the collapse of 94 houses, forcing 51,143 local residents to relocate.

(Xinhua)