Summer of devastating floods shows steep challenge for China as it grapples with extreme weather

Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Meanwhile in China newsletter, which explores what you need to know about the country’s rise and how it impacts the world.

Hong Kong CNN —

As temperatures soared across parts of central China’s agricultural heartland last month, farmers struggled with day after day without rain.

In sweltering Henan province, many scrambled to irrigate parched crops during what is usually a key growing period, while authorities ordered water use to be limited and for clouds to be artificially seeded in an effort to prod rain clouds, state media reports said.

Just one month later, however, parts of the province were awash – pounded by extreme rain that inundated tens of thousands of acres of cropland and forced more than 100,000 people to evacuate their homes, according to state media.

Parts of Henan’s hardest-hit Nanyang city saw more than 600 millimeters (about 24 inches) of rain in 24 hours – three-quarters of what they would normally expect in a whole year. Rescuers navigated streets on speedboats, at times wading through waist-deep floodwaters to pluck people from their homes, footage circulating online showed.

It’s a story playing out across China. In the past two weeks, tens of thousands have been evacuated across multiple provinces in the country following deadly floods and landslides, which have blocked highways, destroyed homes and caused devastating financial losses as they wiped out crops and livestock.

Villagers clean rubbish after torrential rains caused flooding in Meizhou, Guangdong province of China on June 19. A man drives through a muddy street in the aftermath of flooding from heavy storms in Meizhou, Guangdong province last month. A woman walks through devastated streets in