Flooding increases in southern China

Flood waters rush through a village in southern China.

The scale of the flooding in southern China is increasing as families across the affected area face a catastrophe not seen in millennia. The heavy rain that has been falling for the past month continues to fall.

Ten provinces are caught up in the escalating crisis with hundreds of thousands of homes destroyed and huge swathes of farmland swamped.

Nearly 30 million people have been affected. More than 750,000 people were evacuated from their homes last week alone, while nearly 400,000 homes were washed away.

The flooding has not affected communities and children supported by Plan in China.

Plan has already pledged emergency food and clothing for children affected, as well as longer-term rebuilding projects in Jiangxi province.

"In the mountainous areas, flash floods, landslides and debris flow have led to collapsed houses and a heavy death toll," says Plan China's country director Mark Leighton. "More heavy rain along the Yangtze River has caused serious flooding and related natural disasters."

Water levels in the Yangtze River and its tributaries are continuing to rise at an alarming rate.

"In addition, there is huge flooding along the Golmud Valley in Qinghai, which has never happened over the last 2000 years," says Mr Leighton. The Three Gorges dam had to release floodwater for the first time this year, while nearly 100 roads have been badly damaged.

Families are preparing for worse to come, with the China Meteorological Administration forecasting heavy rain over the next week at least.

The Chinese government has led the relief effort with thousands of tents, beds and blankets for those evacuated but resources are becoming stretched. Plan's aid effort will focus on one of the worst affected areas, Lichuan County in Jiangxi. "This area was hit by a huge mountain landslide," says Mr Leighton. "Most people lost their houses and the children are living in poor conditions."

View a photo gallery of images of the impact of the floods on Plan’s Facebook page.

Find out more about Plan’s work in China.