Flooding death toll rises above 700

Recent flooding throughout China has killed more than 700 people and caused at least US$6.9 billion in economic damage, state media reported. Recent storms in Xinjiang and western China have compounded the damage caused by southeastern flooding earlier this month. State officials fear that more storms might cause further damage in central China in the coming weeks, and Chinese meteorologists expect extreme weather to threaten the country throughout the summer. The flooding also comes at a time of severe drought for parts of northern and eastern China that has disrupted water supplies to nearly 2 million Chinese residents and rendered 1.61 million hectares of farmland unusable.