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Tuesday, July 07, 2020, 21:11
China raises emergency level as heavy rain triggers floods
By Agencies
Tuesday, July 07, 2020, 21:11 By Agencies

Aerial photo taken on July 1, 2020 shows the flood water in Qijiang district of Chongqing municipality, southwest China. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

SHANGHAI - China raised its national emergency response level on Tuesday as days of torrential rain triggered flood warnings across the country and disrupting the first day of national college exams.

State television reported 13,117 emergency response and rescue staff had been deployed to deal with the floods

State television reported the Chinese government’s office for flood control raised the response level to III from IV on its four-tier scale, and said 13,117 emergency response and rescue staff had been deployed to deal with the floods.

China has a four-tier flood control emergency response system, with level I representing the most severe.

As of last Friday, the emergency ministry estimated economic losses to be in excess of 40 billion yuan (US$5.7 billion).

Guizhou, Anhui, Hunan and Hubei provinces were expected to record 250-280 millimetres of rain on Tuesday, according to the China Meteorological Administration. In the central city of Wuhan, a record-breaking 426 millimetres of rain fell on Sunday, and authorities were using giant pumps to remove water from flooded roads.

ALSO READ: 21 dead, 15 injured after bus plunges into lake in Guizhou

The official Xinhua news agency reported that a key reservoir for flood control in southeastern Zhejiang province opened its spillways for the first time in nine years to lower water levels.

With nearly 11 million students set to sit their college exams, the weather agency warned parents to heed forecasts and prepare school journeys carefully.

Exams in some parts of Anhui province were postponed as a result of the worst flooding for 50 years, the local government reported.

The city of Qianjiang in the central province of Hubei became the first city to issue a Level I flood response alert on Monday after roads and farmland were inundated.

Authorities in Hubei and neighbouring Hunan province have also issued orange flood alerts - the second highest - with some rivers 2-3 metres higher than warning levels, according to water ministry data.

READ MORE: Alert raised over floods in northern China

State media also reported that 21 people died and another 15 were injured after a bus crashed into a reservoir in southwest Guizhou province. It was not clear how many people were in the bus at the time of the crash or what caused the accident.

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