Severe drought lingers in Hubei  

湖北局部遭遇60年罕见旱情 农田受旱面积超600万亩

记者19日从湖北省政府部门获悉，自7月份以来该省降水时空分布极为不均，局部地区出现了60年一遇的罕见旱情，导致超过600万亩农田受旱、48万多人饮水困难.

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.