Supply Chain Council of European Union | Scceu.org
Procurement

Floods in China, COVID-19, and climate change

China has made substantial progress regarding COVID-19 control, as the local transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has almost been stopped. However, a serious natural disaster, flooding, unfortunately threatened the lives and homes of people in 27 provinces across central and southern China in July, 2020. Starting on June 2, 2020, authorities in China issued alerts for heavy rainfall for 41 consecutive days. The average precipitation in areas along the Yangtze River has reached the highest level since 1961. As of August 13, at least 219 people had been killed, 0·82 million people needed emergency assistance, 4·01 million people were evacuated, and 63·46 million people were affected by the flooding. Flooding has destroyed nearly 0·4 million homes and damaged 5 million hectares of farmland. According to the Ministry of Emergency Management of China, it is estimated that direct economic losses exceed US$25 billion.

Floods are among the most frequent natural disasters in China.

  • Han W
  • Liang C
  • Jiang B
  • Ma W
  • Zhang Y
Major natural disasters in China, 1985–2014: occurrence and damages.