Residents in Qiaowan township, Southwest China’s Sichuan province, on Wednesday inspect flood damage in their street. ZHANG LANG / CHINA NEWS SERVICE

BEIJING - Although rare autumn floods have hit parts of Central, Southwest and Northwest China, weather experts said the autumn storms this year are normal in meteorological terms.

"Abundant vapor resources and active cold air movements meeting above the central and western parts of the country caused the frequent rainstorms in early and middle September," said Ma Xuekuan, chief weather forecaster of the National Meteorological Center.

Ma said the rain in the country's central and western areas will come to an end in the coming week.

Extremely heavy rainstorms hit Northwest China's Shaanxi province this month, with the volume from Sept 1 to 20 about three times greater than the average level for the same period over the past two decades, the center said.

Ma said the autumn rains so far have covered large areas of the country and have been heavier than usual.

According to the latest statistics from the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, by Tuesday the flooding and landslides triggered by the rain from Sept 4 to 18 affected nearly 6.2 million people in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Henan, Hubei, Yunnan, Shandong, Guizhou, Chongqing and Gansu, with direct economic losses surpassing 12 billion yuan ($1.9 billion).

By late Wednesday, the floods and landslides had killed 90 people in those nine locations and caused 22 others to be listed as missing. More than 1.5 million people have been forced to evacuate their homes.

More than 40 rivers near the Yangtze and Yellow rivers are facing floods, while severe flooding has hit the Qujiang, Hanjiang and Weihe rivers, the headquarters said.

The central government launched emergency response plans on Monday and the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters held a conference on Tuesday to organize responses to the flooding.

Shu Qingpeng, deputy director of the headquarters' office, said the water level in most rivers in flooded areas might remain at dangerous levels for the next few days.

Many places in Sichuan are struggling to cope with the worst floods since 1847, with more than 1 million people evacuated, 26 dead and 11 missing by late Wednesday.

The rainstorms also produced this year's highest flood crest on the Yangtze River, China's longest waterway, putting the flood control and navigation capacities of the Three Gorges Dam to a tough test.

The dam's water level reached 165 meters on Wednesday afternoon, about 10 meters lower than the dam's full capacity of 175 meters, according to the Three Gorges Dam Corporation.

Flooding and landslides have also cut off railways and affected water transport in Henan, Shaanxi and Chongqing.

Landslides triggered by the rainstorms have blocked the railway in Henan and trains have been canceled or delayed, stranding hundreds of passengers in railway stations.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs has sent relief supplies to Sichuan and Hubei provinces, where residents are suffering shortages of daily necessities, according to a statement published on the ministry's website on Wednesday.

China Daily

(China Daily 09/22/2011 page4)