Downpours Raging in China Claimed Lives of 701

VLADIVOSTOK. July 22. VOSTOK-MEDIA – A heavy rainfall that hit China has caused floods that claimed the lives of 701 people and caused an estimated $21 billion of economic damage, according to government figures Wednesday.

A number of media outlets reported that the actual death toll has risen beyond one thousand. This is the worst floods in the past 12 years. They have affected almost 7 million of hectares of farmland and damaged hundreds of thousands of houses. Twenty-five rivers have overflowed their banks causing a third part of China to be declared a natural disaster zone.

The Three Gorges Dam is at risk of collapse as the peak flow reached 70,000 cubic meters per second, while the water level is still rising