A soldier from the Jiangxi armed police force transfers sandbags at Changjiangyu dam, Poyang county. Photos: Cui Meng/GT

East China's Jiangxi Province, hit hard by the latest floods that started on July 6, has carried out emergency evacuation of 589,000 people and suffered economic losses of 11.1 billion yuan ($1.6 billion).

The latest round of week-long floods has affected 99 counties in 10 cities. Some 6 million people were affected, 589,000 residents were evacuated and 196,000 are in need of living necessities, the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters said on Tuesday. 

The floods have caused the collapse of 654 houses (1,475 rooms) and severely damaged 1,255 houses (2,719 rooms). Some 575,000 hectares of farmland were damaged, including 104,000 hectares of total crop failure. The direct economic losses were 11.1 billion yuan, said the authorities. 

Some 24,000 People's Armed Police and PLA soldiers have been dispatched to help combat the floods, and joined efforts to repair and consolidate dykes. Some veterans also volunteered to participate in the mission.

Jiangxi, with its intertwined drainage and home to Poyang Lake, the country's biggest freshwater lake, is still combating the floods, as lakeside areas are facing threats of dyke breach and collapse. The lake has reached 4,206 square kilometers in area, its largest in 10 years, and multiple hydrological stations have recorded water levels above that of the devastating 1998 floods. 

On Tuesday, the floods alert for Poyang drainage was downgraded from red to orange. As the province is expected to see another round of rain in the following days, dyke consolidation and evacuation is underway to prepare for the potential floods. 

Global Times