Floods claim 21 more lives in central China

Four others also missing as days of heavy rain send waters rising in Hubei province

Fatalities add to a particularly severe flood season in which more than 300 were killed in Henan province

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Heavy rain in Suizhou, Hubei province, has left the city flooded. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:26pm, 13 Aug 2021Updated: 3:26pm, 13 Aug 2021

The death toll from flooding in central China has risen, with authorities saying on Friday that another 21 people had been killed and another four were missing.

Floodwaters rose to 3.5 metres (11.4 feet) in Hubei province’s Liulin township following heavy rains that began on Wednesday.

The latest deaths add to the more than 300 people killed in flooding last month in Henan province just to the north. Most of those victims were in Zhengzhou, Henan’s provincial capital, where at least 292 died, including 14 who were trapped when the city’s subway system was inundated.

The new Hubei floods have been small in comparison, with just over 8,000 people affected, according to state news agency Xinhua.

03:37

Counting the financial cost of deadly flooding in China’s central city of Zhengzhou

China regularly suffers seasonal flooding, but this year has been particularly severe with torrential rains reaching from the centre of the country as far north as Beijing. The floods come on top of efforts to contain an outbreak of the delta variant of Covid-19 that has particularly affected Henan and the eastern province of Jiangsu.

Floods claim 21 more lives in central China

Four others also missing as days of heavy rain send waters rising in Hubei province Fatalities add to a particularly severe flood season in which more than 300 were killed in Henan province

Four others also missing as days of heavy rain send waters rising in Hubei province

Fatalities add to a particularly severe flood season in which more than 300 were killed in Henan province