Spring and summer flooding is not unusual in southern and central China, but the floods of 2007 were unusually widespread and destructive. Initial assessments in Guangdong, the southernmost province in mainland China, gauged the floods there to be the worst in 50 years, reported the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Weeks of heavy rain caused floods and landslides in six southern provinces in June. By June 15, said the Xinhua News Agency, 128 people had died and an additional 24 remained missing as a result of the floods. More than 22 million people and 1.22 million hectares (4,710 square miles) of crops had been affected, Xinhua added. |