In China, heavy rains have forced the evacuation of more than 240,000 people.

More than 240,000 people have been evacuated in eastern China after heavy rains lashed much of the country, swelling the Yangtze River, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The country has been hit by severe weather conditions for months, including heavy rains and heat waves.

China is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, a major factor that climate change scientists say is making these weather disruptions more frequent and severe.

Nearly one million residents affected

Tuesday afternoon, it rained. “36 counties and districts in seven cities in Anhui Province, according to the provincial emergency department” The agency explained that the hurricane affected 991,000 people, and 242,000 of them were evacuated.

The news agency also said that the water level of the Yangtze River, China's longest at 6,380 kilometers, exceeded the warning levels in the section that crosses Anhui province west of Shanghai. Alert levels were also raised in 20 other rivers and six lakes in the region due to heavy rain.

State CCTV images released on July 3 showed a portion of the Yangtze River flowing so high that it almost completely covered a sculpture in the city of Wuhu that is typically found 12 metres above the water.

Other images showed volunteers in red vests patrolling the river banks, equipped with parachutes, life jackets and buoys they had stored nearby.

A “geological disaster” alert was issued.

More than 100 millimeters of rain were recorded over 24 hours between Monday and Tuesday by hundreds of meteorological stations in Anhui Province, according to Xinhua News Agency. In Hexi County, near the provincial capital Hefei, about 260 millimeters were counted. Tens of thousands of state employees have been deployed to monitor levees and dikes along the Yangtze River, the official Xinhua news agency said. The downpour is expected to continue from Wednesday to Friday and a flood alert is in place. “geological disasters” Issued in the south.

Last month, mountain floods in central Hunan province killed five people, state media reported, while a landslide in the same province killed eight. Heavy rains also caused flooding in June in the southern province of Guangdong, a symbol of China’s industrial power. At least 38 people lost their lives.