Severe drought continues to hit in Hubei province

This summer is proving the country's hottest since 1961. Central China.s Hubei province is one of the three areas most affected by the severe drought.

Lingering drought continues in Hubei province. This is Wuxue, one of the worst affected areas. Paddy fields have dried up. Plants have withered.

Wuxue county has been plagued by the drought since mid-June. It hasn.t rained for over 40 days.

Some 1.7 million hectares of farmland have been damaged. About 14 million people have been affected, according to the local flood control and drought relief headquarters.

This summer China endures the worst heat wave in half a decade. The precipitation in Hubei in the last 20 days is less than 29 millimeters. On Tuesday, the provincial flood control and drought relief bureau issued a red alert for low water flow.

The Hubei Meteorological Center warned the heat wave will continue for a while.

Artificial rain operations are planned for some of the worst-affected areas.

This is the fourth year that Hubei suffers from severe drought. To cope with that, some farmers have switched from rice to crops that can survive in arid condtions, like maize and sesame. And the local government is also taking measures to ensure a sufficient water and power supply to reduce their losses.