2011 CHINA : flooding June 2011

2. Worst flooding since 1955 hits China – 2011, June More than 4.4 million have been affected by the flooding in Zhejiang of Monday morning, according to the Zhejiang Flood Control Office. About 292,000 have been evacuated, according to the agency's website. - So far, 175 have been reported dead and 86 missing. The flooding ended the worst drought to hit southern China in 50 years. It came a month after the Chinese government acknowledged that Three Gorges Dam -- the world's largest hydropower plant -- was having "urgent problems" and warned of environmental, construction and migration "disasters.«  - The dam was originally touted for its ability to control the impact of flooding that threatens the Yangtze River Delta each summer. - But more than 1,000 towns and villages were flooded during the digging and construction of the dam's giant concrete barrier. And landslides and pollution have plagued the areas near the dam since it was built. China's Three Gorges Dam has been discharging water to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. However, since early June, a series of torrential rainstorms has been pounding southern China, overwhelming parched farmlands and triggering some of the worst flooding since 1955. Huge parts of China have been affected by some of the worst drought conditions in decades. Fishermen, farmers, and wildlife have been enduring hardships for months now. In an effort to alleviate the crisis, More than 40 miles of dikes are in danger of overflowing in an eastern Chinese province where floods have caused $1.2 billion in losses, authorities said Monday as the country neared a critical point in battling seasonal rains. Heavy rains pounded Zhejiang province over the weekend, and the level of a river that passes through Lanxi city has risen sharply, said Zhao Fayuan, deputy director of the provincial flood control headquarters. The level of Lanjiang river has now hit 110 feet (34 meters), the highest since 1966, the headquarters said. Recent flooding has destroyed 600,000 acres (241,600 hectares) of farmland and caused 1,846 companies to stop production in Zhejiang, incurring 7.69 billion yuan ($1.19 billion) in direct economic losses, the flood control agency said. Of these, 3.4 billion yuan were agricultural losses. Chinese officials say they plan to double investments in water conservation projects, as the country deals with a shortage of 40 billion cubic meters of water each year. Gathered below are recent images from China, a nation that has been coping first with too little water, then with far too much Clic ->>

3. People wade through a flooded street in Lanxi city in east China's Zhejiang province Monday, June 20, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

4. A tricycle wades through a flooded street as people on a wooden boat pass by, in Lanxi city in east China's Zhejiang province Monday, June 20, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

5. Villagers use a wooden boat to transfer their pigs from a flooded hogpen in suburb Lanxi city in east China's Zhejiang province Monday, June 20, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

6. Chinese farmers rescue their pigs in flood waters after heavy rains hit Lanxi, east China's Zhejiang province, on June 20, 2011. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

7. People make their way through floodwater in Lanxi, east China's Zhejiang province, on June 20, 2011. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

8. A man on a motor scooter makes his way through floodwater in Yingtan, east China's Jiangxi Province on June 19, 2011. Xinhua News Agency / Hu Nan

9. Armed policemen help villagers evacuate in Longtoushan town of Dexing city, east China's Jiangxi Province on Sunday, June 19, 2011. Xinhua News Agency / Zhou Ke

10. A resident carries a man on his back through a flooded area in Moshan village, Zhejiang province, on June 19, 2011. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)

11. A Chinese man clears the floating garbage in front of buses submerged in floodwaters in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province on Saturday, June 18, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

12. A girl puts on her boots near a flooded tunnel in Wuhan, Hubei province, on June 18, 2011. More than one million people in China have been evacuated following downpours that have raised water levels in rivers to critical highs, and triggered floods and landslides. Summer rains have left more than 150 people dead or missing so far, and weather authorities warned that flood-hit areas across the southern half of China would experience a fresh round of heavy rainfall. (Reuters/Darley Wong) .

13. A flooded area is seen in Sanjiangkou village, Zhejiang provincem on June 18, 2011. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)

14. Ducklings rest on pieces of floating debris from a house damaged by the floods in Sanjiangkou village, Zhejiang province, on June 18, 2011. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)

15. Two men on a motorcycle are stuck in floodwaters in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province on Saturday June 18, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

16. Chinese people wade through a flooded pavement in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province on Saturday, June 18, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

17. A Chinese woman wade through a flooded road as a car passes by in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province on Saturday, June 18, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

18. Commuters wait for buses at a bus station submerged in floodwater in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province on Saturday, June 18, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

19. Motorists and people wade through floodwaters in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province on Saturday, June 18, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

20. A Chinese woman uses a pail to remove water from a flooded store in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Saturday, June 18, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

21. A young man wades through a flooded store in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Saturday, June 18, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

22. A bus drives through a flooded street after heavy rainfall on June 18, 2011 in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China. (ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images

23. Residents climb ladders to get to higher ground from a flooded tunnel in Wuhan, Hubei province, on June 18, 2011. (Reuters/Darley Wong)

24. Chinese students make their way across a flooded school compound walking along a row of chairs, in Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province on June 18, 2011. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

25. A woman holds her son at an evacuation center for people affected by floods in the area around Sanjiangkou village, Zhejiang province, on June 18, 2011. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)

26. Chinafotopress / Getty Images Contributor A pedestrian uses umbrella to stop the water splashed by a bus in a flooded street after heavy rainfall on June 18, in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China. A heavy rainstorm hit Wuhan on Saturday, causing flooding across the region.

27. A man tries to hold up a woman after stepping into a drain while attempting to walk through flood waters in southwestern China's Chongqing Municipality on Friday, June 17, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

28. A man paddles a boat through a flooded area in Banshan Cun, Zhejiang province, on June 17, 2011. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)

29. Carlos Barria / Reuters A man paddles a boat carrying local residents through a flooded area in Banshan Cun, Zhejiang province June 17, 2011.

30. Carlos Barria / Reuters - A man fishes next to a broken levee where grape and strawberry fields were flooded in Banshan Cun, Zhejiang province on June 17. Pelting rain in parts of central and southern China has forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave their homes and prompted the government to demand safety checks on vulnerable dams, news reports said on Thursday.

31. A man paddles through a flooded area in Banshan Cun, Zhejiang province, on June 17, 2011. Pelting rain in parts of central and southern China has forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave their homes and prompted the government to demand safety checks on vulnerable dams, news reports said on Thursday. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)

32. AFP - Getty Images - A man tries to salvage some belongings from his damaged home as flood water hit Laibin, southwest China's Guangxi province on June 16. China was pounded by more summer rain forcing the evacuation of more than 550,000 people, state media reported, warning of further downpours, while the number of people confirmed killed in more than a week of floods and landslides triggered by the torrential rains had leapt past 100.

33. AFP - Getty Images - A young boy watches the flood waters from the roof of his home in Laibin, southwest China's Guangxi province on June 16. China was pounded by more summer rain forcing the evacuation of more than 550,000 people, state media reported, warning of further downpours, while the number of people confirmed killed in more than a week of floods and landslides triggered by the torrential rains had leapt past 100.

34. Fishermen prepare food on their boat on the River Brahmaputra in Gauhati, in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, on Wednesday, June 15, 2011. According to media reports, China is considering a new plan to divert the Brahmaputra waters from its upper reaches to fight drought conditions in its northwestern territories. Worried that any diversion of the river by China could impact his state, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi will meet Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna Thursday to ask him to take up the issue with the neighboring country, according to a news report. (AP Photo/ Anupam Nath)

35. A Chinese man pushes a makeshift drum raft while a child sit on it in a flooded street in Xianing city in central China's Hubei province on Wednesday, June 15, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

36. A Chinese man looks around while a woman walks out from her shop submerged with flood water in Xianing city in central China's Hubei province on Wednesday, June 15, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

37. A Chinese man rows a makeshift raft in a flooded street in Xianing city in central China's Hubei province on Wednesday, June 15, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

38. People make their way down a flooded street after a rainstorm hit the town on June 15, 2011 in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province of China. (ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)

39. Darley Wong / Reuters - Residents row their rubber dinghy past a flooded street in Xianning, Hubei province, China on June 15. Torrential rains are still ravaging central and southern China, nearly two weeks after leaving at least 105 people dead and 65 missing, the state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday.

40. Residents walk along a flooded street in Kaihua county, Zhejiang province, on June 15, 2011. (Reuters/Lang Lang)

41. Farmers pick watermelons inside a plastic tent at a flooded field in Kaihua county, Zhejiang province, on June 15, 2011. (Reuters/Lang Lang)

42. Students walk across a flooded area by stepping on chairs at the Hubei University in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province on Tuesday, June 14, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

43. A student walks across a flooded area by stepping on chairs at the Hubei University in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province on Tuesday, June 14, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

44. Residents walk past houses destroyed by a landslide triggered by torrential rain in Zhanqiao township of Linxiang city in south China's Hunan province Monday, June 13, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

45. Li Xueliang, right, carries a coffin prepared for his parents over the aftermath of a landslide that killed them both, in Linxiang city in south China's Hunan province on Sunday, June 12, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

46. A woman sits in the aftermath of a landslide triggered by torrential rain at Guanshan village in Linxiang city in south China's Hunan province on Sunday, June 12, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

47. A Chinese man stands at the foot of a mountain damaged by a landslide which hit Linxiang, central China's Hunan province, on June 12, 2011. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

48. Residents walk across the scene of a landslide triggered by torrential rain in the remote village of Guanshan in Linxiang city in southern China's Hunan province Saturday June 11, 2011. AP / CHINATOPIX

49. Damaged terraces and homes after flood water swept through Linxiang, central China's Hunan province, on June 11, 2011. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

50. A woman shovels mud at her house after a landslide triggered by heavy rainfalls in Linxiang, Hunan province, on June 11, 2011. (Reuters/Darley Wong)