Feature
China
Affected areas
Country-wide Cause of displacement Disaster
Figures More than 1.8 million new disaster displacements between 22 June and 12 July
Context
South Central and Southwest China More than 1.6 million people were evacuated across Hunan Province in South Central China from 22 June to 10 July during record-breaking rains that triggered flash floods and landslides.
Flood levels in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, exceeded the four month average expected for June to September combined. Dozens of people were swept away by the flood waters, which destroyed infrastructure and crops, and caused up to $1.22 billion in direct economic loss (Xinhua, 9 July 2017, Nation, 10 July 2017; Aljazeera, 4 July 2017).
About 6,900 people were evacuated from the Southwest provinces of Guizhou and Sichuan, and about 100 people in Tibet between 28 and 30 June following heavy rainfall and flooding (Ministry of Civil Affairs, 30 June 2017).
As many as 176,000 people were evacuated in South Central China between 1 to 5 July due to flooding, including about 169,000 in Guangxi province and about 7,000 in Guangdong province. (Ministry of Civil Affairs, 5 July 2017).
In the week that followed, more than 9,500 people were evacuated from the provinces of Hubei, Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan following flooding between 8 and 12 July (Ministry of Civil Affairs, 12 July 2017). Over the same period, about 500 people were evacuated in Tibet because of heavy rainfall (Ministry of Civil Affairs, 12 July 2017). An additional 3,400 people were evacuated between 4 and 7 July because of thunderstorms, heavy rain and winds in Sichuan and Henan provinces (Ministry of Civil Affairs, 7 July 2017).
North and Northwest China
More than 3,600 people were evacuated in Beijing and Hebei provinces between 6 and 10 July because of a storm surge that brought strong rainfall (Ministry of Civil Affairs, 10 July 2017). About 200 people were evacuated in parts of Xinjiang province from 2 to 4 July because of heavy rain, thunderstorms and high winds (Ministry of Civil Affairs, 4 July 2017). An additional 100 people were evacuated from Shaanxi province between 4 and 7 July due to similar weather conditions (Ministry of Civil Affairs, 7 July 2017).
East China
More than 1,000 people were evacuated between 3 and 7 July due to strong winds and heavy rainfall, including about 700 people from Anhui province, 200 people from Jiangsu province and 100 people from Zhejiang province (Ministry of Civil Affairs, 6 July 2017; Ministry of Civil Affairs, 7 July 2017).
As many as 3,800 people were evacuated following flooding in Jiangxi between 8 and 12 July. An additional 200 people were evacuated over the same period due to flooding in Jiangsu (Ministry of Civil Affairs, 12 July 2017).
