Severe drought ravages 12 provinces and regions nationwide; Hubei suffers drought for 5 consecutive years
Hubei's 5 consecutive years of drought
Since the start of the dog days, most parts of Hubei have maintained clear, hot and high-temperature weather. Northern and central Hubei and other areas have entered their fifth year of water shortage and scant rainfall. In 11 cities including Xiangyang, Jingmen and Xiaogan, 7.852 million mu of farmland are affected by drought, and 654,000 people have difficulty accessing drinking water. Recently, the Hubei Provincial Meteorological Observatory issued the first red drought warning signal of the year and activated a Level IV emergency response for drought relief. It is expected that in the coming week, most parts of Hubei will continue to maintain clear, hot and high-temperature weather, and the agricultural drought will worsen.
To ensure normal domestic water use for empty-nest elderly people and households living alone deep in the mountains, on July 23, militia members and villagers in Xiatang Town spontaneously set up a “loving water delivery team.” After drawing water from a water source voluntarily provided by villagers, team members rode motorcycles to deliver water door to door to elderly and weak households struggling to access drinking water. They often had to carry 30-kilogram buckets by hand and on their shoulders while climbing 3 kilometers of mountain road to deliver water to the elderly people's homes. Xinhua News Agency
Since July, 12 provinces and regions including Henan, Shandong, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and Xinjiang have suffered severe drought, causing reservoirs and river channels to dry up, making drinking water difficult for people and livestock, and leaving autumn grain crops in some areas facing the prospect of total crop failure. The drought, which has persisted for many days and affected more than 58 million mu of crops, is spreading rapidly and has attracted widespread attention at home and abroad.
Nearly 8 million mu of crops affected by drought in Liaoning
According to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, severe drought has occurred in Shandong, Jiangsu, Liaoning and other places. Recently, the drought in Dalian, Fuxin, Huludao, Jinzhou and other places in Liaoning has further intensified. At present, 7.99 million mu of crops in the province are affected by drought, and 81,600 people and 15,800 large livestock have temporary difficulty accessing drinking water. According to a relevant person in charge of the Liaoning Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, since July, Liaoning's average precipitation has been 81 mm, 56.8% less than the historical average of 187.3 mm for the same period. Among this, the average precipitation in the western region was 49.5 mm, 68.7% less than the historical average of 158.2 mm for the same period. At present, 7.99 million mu of crops in Liaoning are affected by drought, including 3.17 million mu in Fuxin.
Henan experiences its worst drought in 63 years
Recently, the drought in key affected areas of Henan such as Pingdingshan, Xuchang and Nanyang has continued to worsen. As water sources keep shrinking, the number of people with temporary drinking water difficulties has risen sharply. Henan's provincial average precipitation is the lowest for the same period since 1951, and the province is experiencing its worst drought in 63 years. As of August 4, 27.14 million mu of land in Henan were affected by drought, including 8.63 million mu severely affected, and 711,000 people had temporary drinking water difficulties.
According to Yang Biantong, spokesperson for the Office of the Henan Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, since entering June, Henan's provincial average precipitation has been 59% less than the multi-year average for the same period. Due to the lack of effective precipitation, river runoff has continued to decrease, and more than 50% of small and medium-sized rivers have stopped flowing. In addition, drought-relief water use has been heavy, and at present the water storage of large and medium-sized reservoirs in Henan is only 2.640 billion cubic meters, 1.334 billion cubic meters less than the historical average for the same period, while 35% of small reservoirs are basically dry.
230,000 square kilometers of usable grassland affected by drought
According to statistics, 15.2 million mu of crops in Inner Mongolia are affected by drought, including 7 million mu severely affected. The drought has caused drinking water difficulties for 390,000 people and more than 2.5 million livestock across the region and dried up more than 180 reservoirs; nearly 230,000 square kilometers of usable grassland in the western pastoral areas are severely affected by drought, and more than 50,000 farming and herding households rely on hauling water over long distances to meet basic domestic water needs for people and livestock. Preliminary estimates show that pasture output in the central and western pastoral areas of Inner Mongolia is 30%-90% lower than the historical average for the same period. At present, the drought mainly occurs in most of Alxa League, western Ordos, western Xilin Gol League, Bayannur, northern Baotou, eastern and northern Ulanqab, and parts of Chifeng and Hohhot in Inner Mongolia.
On the scene
These leaves are so dry they could catch fire!
Patch after patch of greenless “white stubble fields,” well after well yielding no water, three-wheeler after three-wheeler hauling water……
Henan: even dead storage capacity has been used
A reporter recently saw large expanses of “white stubble fields” dazzling the eyes under the scorching sun in the severely affected Pingdingshan area. Autumn grain crops sown after the wheat harvest did not sprout, and green was hard to find among the wheat stubble. Yu Guochao, a villager from Xinzhuang Village in Baofeng County, said helplessly: “We planted, then kept waiting for rain, but the drought has continued until now, and not a single corn plant came up.”
In Xiniu Village, Zhouzhuang Town, Baofeng County, the reporter saw that villager Yu Huimin had set up a tent at the edge of the field in order to rush to irrigate the corn. “During this period we have all been guarding the fields, irrigating day and night.” But the weak groundwater could hardly sustain the thirsty land; what the pump brought up was a large amount of bubbles. “Now we can irrigate as much as we can.”
The drought has caused drinking water difficulties for people and livestock in some areas. In Houling Village, Zhouzhuang Town, villager Zhao Mei pointed to the rusty well mouth in her own yard and said: “We haven't been able to pump water for two or three months now. I am over 60 this year, and as far back as I can remember I have never seen a drought like this year's.” Villager Chen Shufen was sorting four or five large plastic water buckets on her vehicle. For her, the most important thing every day is riding an electric tricycle to town to haul water. “A family of five, and we also raise several large livestock; I have to make three trips a day.” Dai Deshan, director of the Baofeng County Water Resources Bureau, said that about 60,000 people and 40,000 large livestock in the county have drinking water difficulties.
It is not only agricultural water use that has been affected by the drought. Baiguishan Reservoir, the water source for the urban area of Pingdingshan, has already bottomed out. Liu Yongqiang, deputy director of the reservoir's flood control office, said that the reservoir's available water supply is now 120 million cubic meters less than in previous years, “which is close to one year's water supply for Pingdingshan. On July 29, the provincial Department of Water Resources approved the use of 6.41 million cubic meters of dead storage capacity, which is expected to supply water for more than ten days. This is already the second time this year that dead storage capacity has been used.”
⟦NL> Shaanxi: summer corn withering in patches
“Look, these leaves are so dry they could catch fire!” said 64-year-old Zhu Shanhuai of Xiaoliyuan Village, Guofenglou Town, Shangnan County, Shaanxi, pointing to his own 2 mu of already withered corn.
This is a rare drought unseen in 88 years in Shangnan County since hydrological records began in 1926. Zhu Shanhuai said he had never experienced such a dry summer; the drought has not only lasted a long time but also covered a large area.
In Xiaoliyuan Village, the reporter saw that whole patches of summer corn had yellowed and withered leaves before the maturity season, looking golden yellow from a distance. Most corn cobs were underdeveloped, with shriveled kernels clinging to the cobs. In more severe cases, there were only two or three kernels on a cob.
Besides crops, people were also “suffering from drought.” In Chaoyang Community, Shangnan County, 32-year-old Huang Xueying carried two buckets of water on a shoulder pole from the 1st floor up to the 6th floor. She said the temporary water supply truck sent by the county water affairs bureau supplies water to the community every day from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. “We are now very frugal with water. Face-washing water, vegetable-washing water, and clothes-washing water are all kept to flush the toilet. Now we really know how precious water is.”
Inner Mongolia: sunflower roots snap with a gentle bend
“The roots of some crops such as sunflowers have already dried up and snap with a gentle bend like dry firewood.” According to what the reporter learned during an interview in Yaopo Village, Sanchakou Township, Chahar Right Front Banner, Ulanqab, the area has had no effective rainfall for more than 40 consecutive days. Gao Yinkui, a villager from Yaopo Village, said: “From June to now, there has basically been no rainfall here. The land is severely dried and hardened, and the groundwater level has dropped by about 20 meters.”
The reporter learned on site that due to the ongoing drought, some households in Yaopo Village have had drinking water difficulties and have had to drive tractors to nearby water points to haul water; the local area has opened all electromechanical wells to irrigate farmland around the clock. Bai Yonglong, a villager from Yaopo Village, said: “Because the groundwater level has dropped, my family's mechanized well does not yield enough water and can irrigate at most a bit more than 10 mu of farmland a day. There is no other way now; we can only keep irrigating continuously.”
Affected by the ongoing drought, dryland crops planted by local farmers, such as flax and soybeans, have withered and died, so farming households have had to plow the land early and wait until next year to plant again; the roots and lower leaves of sunflowers planted in irrigated fields have dried up, the upper leaves have wilted, and the flower heads are noticeably much smaller in diameter.
Artificial rain enhancement brings welcome rain to Henan
With a huge roaring sound, rain-enhancement rockets shot into the sky, welcoming the Thunder God along with the Rain God. The reporter learned from the Henan Provincial Meteorological Bureau that starting in the early hours of August 6, meteorological departments carried out ground-based artificial rain enhancement operations in severely drought-affected areas of Henan such as Pingdingshan, Nanyang and Sanmenxia, easing the scorching pain in some areas.
In Pingdingshan, the most severely drought-affected city, a short-term severe convective thunderstorm weather process occurred from 9 to 10 a.m. on August 6. The Pingdingshan Meteorological Observatory seized the favorable opportunity and successfully organized and implemented an artificial rain enhancement operation. The whole city used a total of 12 weather-modification anti-hail and rain-enhancement artillery pieces and 2 rocket launch systems, dispatched more than 50 operating personnel, and fired a total of 286 rain shells and 11 rockets to increase process precipitation.
In addition, from the early hours of August 6 to 7 a.m., ground-based artificial rain enhancement operations were carried out in Nanyang, Sanmenxia, Luoyang and other places in Henan. This operation fired a total of 204 Type 37 weather-modification shells and 56 rockets, with a cumulative affected area of about 6,000 square kilometers. From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. that day, the four cities of Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Pingdingshan and Jiyuan also carried out ground-based artificial rain enhancement operations, firing 146 Type 37 weather-modification shells, 26 rockets and 41 ground silver iodide smoke sticks, with a cumulative affected area of 7,000 square kilometers.
According to the chief forecaster of the Henan Provincial Meteorological Observatory, this rainfall in Henan covered a relatively large area. In a few townships in Fangcheng County in the west, rainfall exceeded 50 mm, while rainfall in other areas of the province was generally below 10 mm. Pingdingshan received 7.3 mm of rain, which was somewhat helpful in easing the drought, but the overall effect was limited.