According to a Reuters report, 34 people have been killed by flash floods in the northwest province of Gansu in China. The floods caused by torrential rainfall at the end of May, injured 28 people and left more than 700 families homeless in one of the driest and poorest regions of China.
The floodwaters inundated most farmland and damaged houses, according to an official report.
State media warned that communities along China’s major rivers should prepare for heavy rains during the summer rainy season. A report in The China Daily quoted water resources minister Wang Shucheng as saying that areas within the Yellow river, Huaihe and Yangtze river systems could get between two and four times the average amount of rain this summer.
The flood warning has been made during a drought, which has affected half of the north of China and is thought to be the worst for ten years.
The drought has prompted the Beijing government to draw up a water rationing plan for its 12 million residents and a new pricing system will be unveiled, which is designed to promote water conservation, according to the The China Daily.