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The worst of times

CHINA has been literally flooded with trouble. Coping with torrential showers reportedly the heaviest in 100 years was bad enough; the bursting of a river dike compounded the problem. Eighteen thousand people have been rendered homeless by the deluge. But the rich paddy fields in Paikou county of Hunan province have been the worst hit. More than 60 per cent of the area is under water, as a result of which 8,000 tonnes of rice have been destroyed. The government has rushed help to the farmers, but all its efforts may well be in vain. For the floods in south and central China have been followed by severe drought.

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