21 dead as rain batters China

At least 21 people died as heavy downpours struck central China’s Hubei province, authorities said on Friday, weeks after record floods wreaked havoc and killed hundreds in a neighbouring province.Chi

At least 21 people died as heavy downpours struck central China’s Hubei province, authorities said on Friday, weeks after record floods wreaked havoc and killed hundreds in a neighbouring province. China has been battered by unprecedented rains in recent months, extreme weather that experts say is increasingly common due to global warming. In Hubei, torrential rains caused power cuts and landslides, destroying hundreds of homes and forcing the evacuation of nearly 6,000 people, the province’s Emergency Management Bureau said, as reservoirs reach dangerous levels.