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Hurricane Dennis - US & Caribbean
Refinery Explosion - US
Earthquake - Indonesia
Drought, heat wave and wildfires
- Europe
Flood - India
Flood - China
Typhoon - Taiwan and China
Other events
|
Catastrophe Report 7
February 18th to August 7th 2005 |
Flood - China
| Territory: |
|
China |
| Region: |
|
South China (Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi,
Hunan, Guangdong, and Guangxi provinces). North-east China (Heilongjiang
and Anhui Provinces). |
| Date: |
|
June to August |
| Event: |
|
Flood |
| Impact: |
|
Official figures for early August put the number
of dead and missing at over 900. More than 3.72 million people
have been internally displaced, and more than 90 million affected
in some way by the floods. As of mid-July, the floods in the
southern provinces had destroyed 702,100 houses and damaged
millions more. In addition, flood waters, landslides and mudflows
were reported to have destroyed more than seven million hectares
of crops. In a separate event in the north-east province of
Heilongjiang, 105 children and 12 staff perished on June 10th
when a flash flood – blamed on the deforestation of surrounding
slopes - swept through a school. Heavy rains in the north-eastern
provinces of Heilongjiang and Anhui, from mid-July into August,
affected over a third of a million people. Around the Songhua
river, in north-east China, floodwaters destroyed more than
5,000 homes and 355,000 hectares of crops. Flood loss estimates
from the beginning of the year to mid-June are US$2.77 billion.
This is higher than the annual average for the 1990s, but lower
than in the devastating flood years of 1991 and 1998. |
| Summary: |
|
Torrential rains starting at the end of May
brought severe flash floods, landslides and mudflows to southern
China, in particular affecting the provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian,
Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, and Guangxi. In early June, more
than 20 cm of rain fell in 24 hours in western and central parts
of Hunan province and rains continued into the middle of the
month. In mid-June, the water level on Guangxi province’s
Xijiang and Wuzhou rivers reached close to 27 m – 9.45
m higher than the flood warning level - overtopping protective
dykes and inundating the industrial city of Wuzhou. During mid-July,
the Nenjiang River in north-east China’s Heilongjiang
province burst its banks following continuous rainfall in the
vicinity of the city of Qigihar. Heavy rains in mid-July also
led to the Songhua river overtopping its banks and inundating
surrounding regions. In early August, torrential rain affected
parts of north-eastern China, with the eastern province of Anhui
receiving up to 26 cm of rain in 24 hours. Severe thunderstorms
also struck Beijing in early August, closing the international
airport for several hours. |
| Data sources: |
|
ReliefWeb
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc100?OpenForm
European Space Agency
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM8MD808BE_index_0.html
|
| Additional sources:
|
|
Dartmouth Flood Observatory
http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7efloods/
NASA Earth Observatory
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?topic=flood
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