Severe flooding affects more than 1 million in China's Hubei

More than one million people are now affected by severe flooding in Hubei, China, after another bout of heavy downpour hit the province on Saturday, June 27, 2020, according to the Hubei Provincial Emergency Management Office.

Wide swaths of the province have been affected after rivers burst their banks, including in the cities of Yichang, Xiangyang, Jingmen, Xiaogan, Huanggang, and Enshi. Provincial capital Hubei was also hit by inundations.

As of June 29, up to 1.2 million people are affected and 9 722 had been relocated to emergency centers. A total of 478 houses collapsed, while 2 241 were damaged.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) said the floods were also a result of torrential rains in the Yangtze river basin, coupled with the release of floodwater from the Three Gorges Dam-- the world's largest.

"In the Yangtze River city of Yichang, residents blamed recent releases of water from the Three Gorges and Gezhouba dams upstream of the city for flooding in their backyard," RFA added.

On June 27, Yichang City in Hubei recorded 140 mm (5.5 inches) of rain, which was the city's biggest daily rainfall in 20 years. The downpour resulted in widespread flooding, prompting firefighters to rescue more than 1 000 trapped residents.

Featured image credit: NASA