Drought Partly Eased in Southern China,Fighting Flood Tops Agenda

Rice planting and fish rearing is once again underway in many parts of central and southern China, now that the recent rains have helped alleviate the once-lingering drought in the area.

But as CRI's Wei Tong reports, forecasters are also warning that concerns about the drought are now being replaced with concerns about flooding.

While visiting a village in the suburb of the city of Yueyang here in Hunan, I have seen farmers busy planting rice in the fields. Some rice paddies are now filled with water, but others remain overgrown with wild grass.

Rice planters in this area say they're happy to see the rains return.

"The rain is timely and has helped us. Just a few days ago, the soil was completely dry and interwoven with deep burrows and cracks. But the recent rains are far from enough. You can see the plot. It has fertile soil, but it is now overgrown with grass. Normally I grow three seasons of rice every year. But this year I have only been able to grow one season because of the lack of water. I'm really hoping for heavy rain."

At the same time, the same farmer has also told me that he's shelved the idea of growing drought-resistant cotton, given that there could be flooding, which would straddle him with even more financial losses.

In anticipation of the potential flooding, the local authorities have been pumping water from nearby reservoirs into the rice paddies to try to make room for the impending rains.

Fan Meihua runs three fishponds next to Dongting Lake, which is China's second largest fresh water lake.

The protracted drought has killed all her fish, at a cost of nearly 10-thousand US dollars.

And while the rains should help her eventually recoup her losses, she too is worried about the potential floods.

"Normally this time of year is when we harvest our fish. But this year there are none to harvest. I have restocked my ponds with new fry now that the rains have come. However, if there is flooding, I'm worried that all my young fish are going to be washed away."

Huang Jumei is with the Yueyang Meteorological Observatory.

"The weather forecast now shows that flooding, and not drought, is more likely because of the impending rains this month. If the heavy rain continues, the drought will be eased, but it will also cause severe flooding in some parts of the region."

Liu Guhua, deputy director of Yueyang Water Bureau, says combating the potential floods is something they're prioritizing.

"We are keeping a close watch on the possibility of a combined flood in Dongting Lake and its outlet, the Yangtze River. If that happens, the flood will be disastrous. As such, we've set up a flood warning system. When a flood is predicted, an alarm will be sounded so that people can be relocated."

So far this rainy season in central and southern China, flooding has hit 12 provinces. Over 74-hundred homes have been destroyed by the heavy rains, and more than 250-thousand hectares of farmland has been submerged by the deluge.

For CRI, this is Wei Tong at Yueyang, Hunan province.