Heavy rains in China have left 112 people dead or missing in the Yangtze river basin, with a typhoon expected to hit by the end of the week, raising fears of further damage. The civil affairs ministry reported that approximately 16 million people have been affected by the flooding, according to the Beijing News.
Water levels in Lake Taihu, near Shanghai, have reached their highest since 1954, posing a serious flood risk if a typhoon strikes nearby on Friday. State media shared images of a farmer in eastern China weeping as waters rose around his 6,000 pigs, and a sports stadium in Hubei province transformed into a 'giant bathtub' by the rainfall.
Flooding is common during the summer monsoon in southern China, but this year's rainfall has been exceptionally heavy. The Beijing News reported that rain is expected to move north towards the Huai river later this week. Vice-premier Wang Yang warned last month that a strong El Niño effect would increase flood risks in the Yangtze and Huai basins.
An El Niño effect was linked to China's worst floods in recent years, when over 4,000 people died in 1998, mostly around the Yangtze. However, a meteorologist quoted by the Beijing News noted that this year's rain patterns are more disparate, reducing the likelihood of a similar death toll. China's national observatory issued an orange alert—the second highest in a four-tier system—for storms across the south and east last week.
Last month, a storm with hurricane-force winds and the worst tornado in 50 years killed at least 98 people in Jiangsu province, levelling entire villages. Meanwhile, floods in south Asia this week have killed 33 in Pakistan and 25 in India due to unusually heavy rains.
