China floodwater diversions to populated areas unleash wave of online anger

Hebei had relocated more than 1.54 million people, including 961,200 from flood storage areas, state media reported on Aug 5. - PHOTO: REUTERS

BEIJING (Reuters): Nearly one million people in China's northern Hebei province were relocated after record rains forced authorities to channel water from swollen rivers to some populated areas for storage, sparking anger online over the homes sacrificed to save Beijing.

The vast Hai River basin covers an area the size of Poland that includes Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin. Over a span of one week from late July, the region with a population totalling 110 million experienced its most serious flooding in six decades, with Hebei, particularly Baoding prefecture, the worst hit.