Parts of China battle severe flooding after heavy rains

Parts of central and east China are battling severe floods caused by continuous heavy rains over the past two weeks, with competent authorities mobilizing human and material resources in disaster relief to ensure people's safety and minimize losses.

In Pingjiang Country of central China's Hunan Province, nearly half of the urban areas have been flooded due to intense rains that has persisted since June 18, trapping residents at home. The downpours have also led to widespread power disruptions.

According to preliminary estimates by local authorities, a total of 340,000 people have been affected, while more than 2,600 bridges and roads have been destroyed, and 11 households have sustained severe damages.

In response, since 06:00 on Monday, disaster relief workers have been conducting search and rescue operations across the county and using kayaks to evacuate trapped residents to safety.

On Monday night, the county activated a Level-I emergency response of flood control, the most urgent response in China.

As of the early hours of Tuesday, the water level on the Pingjiang section of the Miluo River's main channel had reached 77.67 meters, exceeding the alert level by 7.17 meters.

Hefei, the capital of east China's Anhui Province, has also been battered by heavy rains, with a residential complex in the city seeing severe waterlogging.

Local authorities have mobilized emergency rescue teams to evacuate the trapped residents, and those living on the first floor have been evacuated.

Due to persistent heavy rains since June 22, paddy crops in Susong County of the province have also been flooded. Local authorities are currently using water pumps to drain floodwaters from the inundated farmlands.

The China National Commission for Disaster Reduction has updated a Level-III emergency response for disaster relief for the province and dispatched a team to inspect the disaster situation and offer guidance and support for local disaster relief endeavors.

China has a four-level emergency response system for disaster relief, with Level IV being the lowest level and Level I the highest.

A large-scale disaster response exercise was held on Thursday in the waters off Jingtang Port in Tangshan City, north China's Hebei Province, according to the Maritime Safety Administration.

The drill simulated a scenario where a vessel operating in an oil field area was on fire with oil spillage, involving injuries.

The focus of the exercise was to test the coordination of search and rescue forces and oil spill emergency response, in order to improve the capacity to guarantee the safety for vessels operating in oil fields.