Severe drought lingers in Hubei  

湖北局部遭遇60年罕見旱情 農田受旱面積超600萬畝

記者19日從湖北省政府部門獲悉，自7月份以來該省降水時空分布極為不均，局部地區出現了60年一遇的罕見旱情，導致超過600萬畝農田受旱、48萬多人飲水困難.

Wuhan (CNS) – A drought that continues to parch central China's Hubei Province has affected 400,000 hectares of crops and left 480,000 people short of drinking water, the provincial government said Sunday.

High temperatures and decreased rainfall since July have exacerbated the problem and more than half of the province's small reservoirs have dried up, the authority said.

According to the drought relief office of Jingshan County, a major crop producer, it only has 0.23 billion cubic meters of water reserves in its reservoirs, 17.8 percent less than last year. Suizhou, Jinmen, Yichang, Xiangyang and Xiaogan are undergoing similar conditions.