Silver lining in massive flooding

China recorded fewer casualties in floods despite the highest precipitation in decades in middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, according to authorities. 

About 63.46 million people were affected by floods this rainy season, 12.7 percent more than the average of the past five years, Zhou Xuewen, vice-minister of emergency management and water resources, said. 

A total of 219 people were killed or left missing, 54.8 percent less than the average of the past five years, he told a news conference organized by the State Council Information Office on Thursday. 

The sharp decrease in deaths occurred in the backdrop of an extended Plum Rains season this year in middle and lower reaches of Yangtze with record high precipitation since 1961. 

The season this year, which is 23 days longer than normal years, brought precipitation of 753.9 millimeters during the season in the two reaches, 168 percent more than normal years, Yu Yong, deputy head of the China Meteorological Administration, said.  

He said the precipitation was over 180 millimeters more than 1998 when devastating floods raged through Yangtze basin. 

Plum Rains, often occurring in June and July, refer to the long period of continuous rainy or cloudy weather in the two reaches. The name is a reference to the time that plums ripen in the region.