Deadly floods hit China’s major grain-producing region, fueling food security concerns

Days of heavy rain have caused severe flooding in China’s leading grain-producing region in the northeast, killing 14 people and raising concerns about food security as floodwater inundated farmlands.

Torrential rains brought by the aftermath of Typhoon Doksuri have battered northern China since late July, displacing more than a million people and killing at least 30 people in the outskirts of Beijing and the surrounding Hebei province.

As the storm moved further north, another 14 deaths were reported Sunday in Shulan in Jilin province.

Among the dead were three local officials, including the city’s deputy mayor, who was washed away by floodwater during rescue operations last week, Shulan authorities said in a statement. One more official remained missing, it added.

More than 18,000 people have been evacuated from Shulan, according to the state-run news agency Xinhua.

Further north in the neighboring province of Heilongjiang, rivers that irrigate its fertile farmlands overflowed, submerging rice fields, destroying vegetable greenhouses, and damaging factories, state media reported.

source: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/07/china/china-northeast-flooding-food-security-intl-hnk/index.html