Wednesday July 30, 2003

Parts of China are facing their worst drought in a decade with nearly three million people suffering from water shortages in two provinces alone, state press said.

In eastern Zhejiang province, some 1.3 million people are short of drinking water while 200,000 hectares of crops have been damaged, the China Daily said Wednesday.

Raging forest fires have also left at least two villagers dead.

In central Hunan province, more than 1.5 million people are plagued by the prolonged dry spell which has worsened in recent days with temperatures soaring to 43 degrees Celcius in some areas of the country.

Drought conditions have also deteriorated in the south where meteorological officials Tuesday formally issued a red heat warning in Guangdong for the first time ever. Red heat warnings are issued whenever the mercury climbs above 35 degrees Celsius.

Eastern Anhui province, struggling to overcome the worst floods in years, is also now blighted by intense heat, the paper said.

Meanwhile, torrential rains that have plagued central and eastern China have moved towards the northeast where water levels are rising on the Nengjiang river in Heilongjiang province.

So far, 4,000 people have been evacuated.

The area around the famous Three Gorges in Hubei province meanwhile is threatened by landslides, while boats have been prohibited from navigating the Tongzhuang river.

China has been particularly hard hit by wild weather this year with at least 3.5 million people made homeless by floods.

Last week a powerful typhoon swept over the south, leaving a trail of destruction in its path.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/030730/1/3cyxn.html