Over 220000 people evacuated as flood hits SW China

More than 220,000 people in southwest China's Sichuan Province have been evacuated from low-lying areas following a flood that struck the disaster-prone region, local authorities said. The flood, the third in 10 days, affected more than 580,000 residents, destroying some 3,200 houses and inundating 17,733 hectares of crops in Quxian county in the city of Dazhou, a city government spokesman said. Water levels on the Qujiang River, which flows through the county, exceeded the recommended warning level by 3.7 meters, the spokesman said. "I was lucky to be saved by the government officials. But my crops were washed away by the floods. I feel helpless," Chinese news agency (Xinhua) quoted a 57-year-old farmer Liu Shaoqun from the village of Shanxing as saying. Local authorities have sent food, drinking water, other relief supplies and medical workers to flood-hit areas, the spokesman said.