Xi stresses "people first" in fighting floods, geological disasters

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday called for all-out efforts in the prevention, rescue and relief work of floods and geological disasters, and ensuring people’s lives and safety as the top priority, as south China is experiencing an intense flood season.

Rainstorm alerts have been issued for 26 consecutive days in June. According to official data, as of June 26, weeks of torrential rain and heavy flooding have affected more than 13.7 million people in 26 provincial-level regions, including Guangxi, Guizhou, Guangdong, Hunan and Jiangxi, and more than 744,000 people have been relocated.

The severe flooding has caused economic losses of 27.8 billion yuan (US$3.9 billion).

Xi asked local governments and relevant departments to “put people and their lives front and center” and properly resettle and relocate people affected by the flood.

Xi said China will enter a typhoon season soon and the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and other related departments should strengthen coordination and guide local governments to carry out natural disaster prevention, response and relief work.

In central China’s Hubei Province, days of rainfall has caused water levels in five major lakes to exceed the flood season limit. So far, authorities have released 900 million cubic meters of water from 13 sites of the lakes. In Anhui Province, a fresh spell of heavy rainfall is likely to cause floods in the Huaihe River, authorities said. Guizhou Province has forecast 10 days of rain.