China activates emergency response to north China floods Xinhua 04 Aug 2021, 07:49 GMT+10 BEIJING, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- The China National Commission for Disaster Reduction and the Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) jointly activated a level-IV emergency response on Monday to floods in the northern province of Hebei. Since late July, cities such as Handan and Xingtai in the province have suffered severe flooding triggered by torrential rainfalls, Typhoon In-Fa, and inflows of upstream water, the MEM said. As of Monday, the floods had affected 654,000 people and claimed two lives in Hebei, with 103,000 relocated. The natural disaster had also caused a direct economic loss of 660 million yuan (about 102.15 million U.S. dollars), the ministry said.