Torrential rain affects over 360,000 in southern China by Darren Bett
More than 360,000 people have now been affected by heavy rain in southern China. Further torrential downpours over the weekend have caused flash flooding that destroyed houses, roads and agricultural land. In contrast the north of the country has been reeling under drought as temperatures hit 38C (40F), with little or no rainfall being received in the area this year.
With the impending Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese government is keen to ensure the games run smoothly, and have decided to undertake ‘cloud seeding’ in order to keep the rain clouds away. This process is normally used to change the amount of rainfall that comes from the clouds, by releasing substances into the atmosphere which alter their formation.
These latest rains, have brought the death total to 14 people so far this month as a result of flooding and landslides. Last month flooding across southern China forced the evacuation of more than 1.6 million people. Forecasters at the Chinese Meteorological Organisaton forecast the rains to continue over the next 2 days.
