Hard and soft solutions necessary to tackle floods

One after another, cities in southern China have found themselves inundated with the recent heavy rainfall. Residents are busy posting photos online, showing them in boats in the streets or catching fish in the water. Yet such a response should not obscure the fact that floods threaten people's lives and bring huge economic losses.

Flooding is caused not only by heavy rainfall, but also the inadequate infrastructure that fails to channel the water away. In September 2013, the State Council, China's Cabinet, urged local governments to improve the drainage capabilities of cities, and many cities have been working on this.

However, most of them are simply strengthening the pipes, which is only one of the necessary measures. In order to solve the problem of city flooding, authorities must take comprehensive measures that range from infrastructure maintenance to ecological protection.