Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - A part of southwestern China that has been very hot this month is now on high alert for flooding because ...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - A part of southwestern China that has been very hot this month is now on high alert for flooding because of days of heavy rain.
Downpours in the sprawling manufacturing hub of Chongqing and nearby areas of Sichuan province come after severe power shortages in the same areas caused by heavy use of air conditioning and falling reservoir levels.
Rain started on Sunday and is expected to last until Tuesday. At 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) on Sunday, the government took emergency steps to stop flooding in Sichuan and Chongqing.
The government declared a national drought emergency at the beginning of this month.
In many parts of southern China, the temperature has been over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) for the past few weeks. This is thought to be the hottest time since 1961, when the government started keeping records.
There hasn't been any rain in Chongqing for almost three weeks, and the city has been rationing electricity, which has cut production in factories of major global companies.
Along the Yangtze River Basin, crops in many cities and towns have been hurt by both drought and very hot weather. On social media, there are pictures of burned, muddy lakes and rivers that have dried up.
There have also been forest fires in Chongqing and Sichuan.
On Monday and Tuesday, there will be heavy rain in the eastern and southwestern parts of the Sichuan Basin, as well as in the western and northern parts of Chongqing.
