Floods Devastate Communities in China, Chile, Peru

Extreme rain events and hail storms since Friday have damaged about 20,000 hectares of crops in 52 towns and villages in central China’s Hunan Province, affecting up to 240,000 people, and leaving more than 12,000 displaced as of Saturday evening, reported Xinhua.

In the east China’s Jiangxi Province, torrential rains have battered 54 cities and counties as of Saturday,”with some towns flooded and a highway landslide reported on Saturday afternoon. Icy roads have caused several bus accidents in the province,” said the report.

Scores Dead or Missing in Chile Floods

Widespread flash floods and mudslides, triggered by the heaviest rainfall in 80 years, have killed dozens of people, left more than a 100 missing and displaced thousands of others in Chile’s Atacama region.

The extreme weather events have affected tens of thousands of people across the region which reportedly includes the world’s driest desert.

“Rivers have burst their banks, flooding towns, making roads impassable and forcing miners in Chile, the world’s top copper exporter, to suspend operations,” IBT reported.

Peru Declares a State of Emergency

Record rains have also triggered major mudslides in eastern Peru, killing or injuring dozens of people, and leaving at least a dozen others missing.

President Humala of Peru has declared a state of emergency in the region east of the capital Lima that has been affected by the deadly mudslides.

Overexploitation, Drought Destroying China’s Largest Freshwater Lake

E. China’s Poyang Lake drying up!

Fed by the Gan, Xin, and Xiu rivers, the area of Poyang Lake fluctuates considerably between the wet and dry seasons; however, the average size of the lake has continued to shrink in recent years.

The lake area averages about 3,500 km² in a normal year, but it reached a low of under 200 km² in 2012, due to drought and the water intercepted for storage at the Three Gorges Dam.

Each year, up to a million migratory birds visit the vanishing lake, the largest freshwater lake in China.

During the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD) the lake area reached its greatest size of more than 6,000 km².

Poyang Lake is known as the “Bermuda Triangle of the East,” said a report.

Between early 1960s and late 1980s, more than 200 boats reportedly sank in the lake leaving a total of “1,600 people missing and 30 survivors who became mentally ill.”

“Among the boats missing in this area was one as large as 2,000 tons. It is documented that on Aug. 3, 1985, 13 boats had accidents in the Laoye Temple waters. The mystery is that those boats could not be recovered,” said the report.

Original caption: A stone bridge relic of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) is revealed on the bed of drought-affected Poyang Lake in east China’s Jiangxi Province, Dec. 30, 2014. Poyang Lake is renowned for its rich fishing resources, while in recent years, persistent drought and over-exploitation have endangered the lake’s resources. (Xinhua/Zhang Jun). More images…

Related Links

• With Water Sources Intercepted, Ecological Disaster Looms

Severe Drought Plagues Central China

Central China is now in a state of  almost permanent drought

No end in sight for the severe drought that has plagued central China. Image credit: gmw.com via Xinhua. More images…

China’s largest freshwater lake rapidly shrinking

Meantime, surface area of Poyang Lake, in China’s Jiangxi Province,  has shrunk to less than 6 percent of its original size of more than 3,500km²

An early dry season this year, which began in mid-October, has reduced the lake into shallow streams, said a report.

China’s largest freshwater lake, Poyang Lake, is drying up, causing a severe shortage of drinking water in the region, crippling the local fishing industry and threatening the lake’s ecology. Image credit: News.com via Xinhua. More images…

The lake has been subject to prolonged dry seasons since the 1990s due to persistent droughts, and reduced water supplies from the Yangtze River due to hydroelectric dams.

Other contributing factors include increasing water use and damage to the lake bed.

The crisis has caused a severe shortage of drinking water, crippling the local fishing industry and threatening the lake’s ecology,  said the report.

“Meteorological data showed the province has received 60 percent less precipitation since September than the average over the same period since records began in 1952.”

Additionally, a cluster of 29 dams erected on the upper reaches of the Yangtze river, which includes the Three Gorges Dam, store a total of up to 53 billion cubic meters of water, contributing to the death of Poyang, according to China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research.

Large numbers of migrating Siberian cranes used to spend the winter on Poyang Lake.

Millions of People Affected by Extreme Rain Events in China

Continuous rainstorms forces hundreds of thousands of residents to relocate in southern, eastern and central China

Extreme rain events have destroyed tens of thousands of homes in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, central China’s Hunan province, east China’s Jiangxi province, leaving dozens of people dead, injured or missing.

The rainstorms have affected at least 3 million people, destroying their food stocks, also destroying or damaging tens of thousands of hectares of crops.

Villagers transport pork carcasses using a boat in Wuning County of Jiujiang City, east China’s Jiangxi Province, May 13, 2012.  Days of heavy rains have caused local rivers and reservoirs to rise above warning levels in Jiangxi Province. (Xinhua). Image may be subject to copyright. More images…

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar

Violent Storms Kill at least 65 in S China

Violent storms and torrential rains devastated southern China killing at least 65, and leaving thousands homeless.

Deadly storms and torrential rains claimed at least 65 lives leaving about 200 people injured and 14 others  missing, with more than  50 thousand people made homeless, the official Xinhua reported the authorities as saying.

Original Caption: Photo taken on May 7, 2010 shows the scene of landslide in Tianxin Village, Egong Town of Dingnan County in east China’s Jiangxi Province. Seven people were dead and five were missing after floods and landslides wreaked havoc in Jiangxi over the past two days.(Xinhua/Zhou Ke). Image may be subject to copyright.

“As of Friday, the storms had affected up to 2.55 million people and 100,000 hectares of arable land, leaving 65 people dead, 14 missing, 9,900 buildings damaged, said the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters in a statement on its website.” Xinhua said.

Two days of heavy downpour caused floods and triggered landslides and mud flows  in south China’s provinces of Guangdong, Sichuan and Guizhou.

Fire-Earth had forecast a major disaster in China on May 4, 2010, though the blog did not release any specific details.

Related Links:

• 70 Killed in Afghanistan Flash Floods
• Landslides Leave 55 Dead or Missing in Tajikistan
• Southern U.S. Flooding Update
• Parking Lot Vanishes Under Landslide

• Landslides Kill Dozens of People
• Landslides Kill Dozens of People
• FLOODING: Kentucky governor declares a state of emergency Posted on May 4, 2010
• 2010 Disaster Calender [May] Posted on May 1, 2010
• Landslide kills at least 10 in Kenya

• Landslide News
• Landslide and sinkhole close part of U.S. 64
• Taiwan Massive Landslide Buries 6-Lane Freeway
• Mudslide Buries Chemical Factory in China

• Super-destructive events may strike anytime
• Extreme Rain Events, Floods, Mudslides 2010
• 2010 Likely the Most Disastrous Year on Record: FEWW
• 2010: Year One of Human-Enhanced Disasters

• 2010 Disasters
• 2010 Disaster Calender [May]
• Landslides

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