China: 3 dead and 300,000 people affected by flooding in central and southern China

In Longshan district, four people were trapped in an underground garage. Three of them lost their lives, while the last one was rescued, according to the national news agency China News.

The southeastern district of Huaji is one of the hardest hit by Typhoon Wutip. Water levels have risen to three meters in some places, making half the roads impassable. More than 300,000 people are affected by the flooding.

The situation is also critical in some central and eastern provinces, such as Hunan (central China), where the Lishui River has recorded its highest flood since 1998.

Recent summers have been marked by extreme weather events in China. In 2023, flooding in the Beijing region resulted in around thirty deaths and thousands of evacuees. In 2022, several heat waves and droughts smothered the central and eastern parts of the country, causing power cuts due to the country's dependence on hydropower. A year earlier, the central province of Henan was hit by rains of an intensity unseen since records began. More than 300 people died.

A month ago, parts of northern and central China were suffocating under record heat for the month of May.

China, like the rest of the world, is facing a significant rise in average temperatures, leading to increasingly frequent heatwaves, droughts and floods. The Asian giant is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, which scientists believe are responsible for global warming. However, it still lags behind the USA and other countries in terms of per capita emissions.