HONG KONG – Months after COVID-19 devastated Chinese cities, flooding is now flooding large tracts of land in China, after being born in the south, have spread across the country, caused by unusually heavy marathon rains since early June. The overflow, which has so far affected some 24 million more people and displaced many of them, also coincides with the looming disaster: swarms of locusts are born to make their way to China as well.
The confluence of these occasions occurs when China restarts its economy and the government is trying to save you the moment and the third wave of coronavirus infections. Despite instructions from The leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, leaders across the country to “take responsibility” for flood relief and put in place plans that provide early warning, thousands of people have already lost their homes or livelihoods.
SoArray at least 150 other people have died as a result of the floods, or are missing and are presumed dead. The area is extensive, extending from Zhejiang Province on the east coast to Yunnan to the southwest, along the border with Burma, Laos and Vietnam. According to China’s Ministry of Emergency Management, the damage to public services and the thousands of homes now underwater amount to more than $7 billion. Total economic losses so the amount to 86 billion yuan, or more than $12 billion, according to the South China Morning Post.
According to Hu Xiao, the predicting leader of the Chinese Meteorological Administration, downceros that fill flooded spaces and permeate more places are the result of excess water vapours inhaled across the Pacific and Indian oceans.
But critics have lashed out at the immediate and ill-planned urban progression that is taking a stand across the country in the call for poverty reduction, such as the structure of many poorly designed dams operating along the Yangtze River.
Replacing the climate is also something in this crisis, said Song Lianchun, meteorologist at China’s National Climate Center. Song in particular cited “an accumulation in the frequency and intensity of excessive weather events” caused by global warming.
Most primary cities have remained relatively dry so far. But even cities designated as “level 2” in China can accommodate many people. For example, Wuhan, which is on alert due to emerging waters along the shores, has a population of more than 11 million. And farmland in parts of the country is lately unusable, with existing crops lost to torrents.
Across China, soldiers, engineers, and workers are building and reinforcing embankments. Firefighters and other rescue personnel are transporting evacuees, rowing up to their houses and taking them to safety.
In early July, when the school’s top academics had to pass their college exams, many had to go to their schools and check the centers through a boat, under exposed electrical wires. Multi-story houses collapsed into landslides. Cultural sites such as centuries-old stone bridges, dynastic city walls and restored apartments of ancient figures have been badly damaged.
The one-month deluge is so severe that the Chinese government blew up a dam to lower the degrees of water in East China’s Anhui Province on Sunday morning, causing fear in towns and villages downstream. Last week, upstream, the Hubei Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest force plant, opened 3 gates after water degrees reached more than 50 feet above the flood limit. But by Tuesday, they had already returned to their starting point.
SoArray, the Chinese government has allocated $44 million to the aid budget, enough to cover a national response.
Since late 2019, swarms of city-sized locusts have devastated the Horn of Africa, parts of the Middle East and South Asia. The plagues have exacerbated the famine in Yemen, cleared the fields in east Africa and displaced farmers in Pakistan and northern India.
China has feared for months that locusts could simply enter the country and devastate the food chain. State media have told fantastic stories about lobster prevention, adding the concept that 100,000 “duck soldiers” would reach the border with India and Pakistan and simply consume the swarm. The state-run Global Times said insects would be “eaten through ducks, fried for food” and “would not pose a risk to China.”
But scientists and experts presented a more serious warning. As the Chinese government talked about sending Aviary troops to protect the border, an agricultural expert at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing, Zhang Zehua, predicted that swarms could hit southwest China in June or July.
In the end, Zhang’s right.
Last month, locusts entered Yunnan Province, targeting 21,500 acres of tranquil tropical lowlands as a new food source. The local government has deployed drones and pesticide personnel to cover the land overrun by insects and destroy the infestation. For now, it is unclear whether long-term waves of locusts can fly in China, however, the fear is that the swarms that are already provided may have laid groups of eggs.
Flooding and possible disruptions to the food chain can affect China and its neighbors if the pandemic recedes.
While there are still doubts about the veracity of the number of infections and the official number of COVID-19 deaths, China has flattened and crushed the curve by implementing strict blockages, achieving tactile and large-scale searches, adopting technological responses such as health. QR codes similar to non-public smartphones and e-wallets, and that restrict access to the country. China’s economy is slowly coming back to life, and tourists even walk through the popular sites of Yunnan, many of which are masked.
But with a deluge destroying homes and farmlands eliminated through insects and floods, a fatal mix is brewing if there is a resurgence of COVID-19 infections, even in small pockets. Even the smallest mistakes can lead to an apocalyptic result.