In a cruel version of "be careful what you wish for," eastern China's worst drought in decades has been eclipsed only by its most horrific floods since 1955.
Here are some numbers:
- At least 170 deaths
- Another 83 missing
- 1,000 businesses destroyed
- More than 1.6 million people evacuated from 13 southern and eastern provinces
- 8,400 houses destroyed in Zhejiang province alone
- 5 million people affected overall
- The direct economic loss is calculated at $4.9 billion
But as with most disasters of catastrophic proportions, the numbers don't communicate the extent of the damage.
That's where the pictures come in:
A flooded street in Lanxi, Zhejiang province in eastern China. Flood-hit areas of China braced for more heavy rains Monday. (AFP/Getty Images)
Students make their way across a flooded school compound in Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province. (AFP/Getty Images)
A man rides a bicylce through the eastern province of Zhejiang. (AFP/Getty Images)
Vehicles are trapped in a flooded street after heavy rainfall. (ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)
Chinese farmers rescue their pigs in flood waters after heavy rains. (AFP/Getty Images)
Chinese workers try to clear their store of flood water along a street in Wuhan, Hubei. (AFP/Getty Images)
A view of a flooded street in Lanxi, Zhejiang. (AFP/Getty Images)
A woman grieves during a mass funeral for flood victims on June 11. (AFP/Getty Images)
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/the-rice-bowl/china-floods-natural-disasters-photos
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