950809

Floods destroy

large crop area in

China

BEIJING: The worst floods to hit northeast China in a century have destroyed more than two million hectares (4.9 million acres) of crops in two wheat-growing provinces, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Wednesday.

Rains since July have caused rivers to burst their banks, swamping 890,000 hectares (2.2 million acres) of cropland in the breadbasket province of Liaoning and 1.19 million hectares (2.94 million acres) in neighbouring Jilin province, the ministry said in a statement.

Officials declined to give a U.S. dollar estimate for losses or a breakdown of crop damage. There were no updated casualty figures. Officials said earlier the floods had left at least 60 people dead or missing.

The floods forced the evacuation of 1.44 million people in Liaoning and 1.6 million people in Jilin, the ministry said. A total of 11.1 million people were affected.

The floods have killed 420,000 head of livestock in the two provinces, toppled 970,000 homes and damaged 2.09 million others, the ministry said.

In southern China, floods ravaged 10 provinces between May and July, killing 1,391 people and injuring 18,165. Some 1.37 million hectares (3.39 million acres) of crops were destroyed and 1.14 million houses toppled.

Economic losses were estimated at 55.8 billion yuan (US$6.72 billion). Hunan and Jiangxi provinces were the hardest hit by the floods. In Hunan, the heaviest rains to hit in 100 years killed 448 people and injured 3,392.-Reuter