Rain-triggered disasters kill 14 in NW China
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A series of rain-triggered disasters have killed 14 people and left seven others missing in northwest China over the past week, local authorities said Tuesday.
A mud-rock flow hit the Tibetan village of Sunan County in Zhangye City at 2 p.m. last Thursday and buried 10 people from a local herder's family, the county government said in a press release.
As of Monday, rescuers had retrieved five bodies but the other five remained missing, it said.
Another mud-rock flow struck the same village late Sunday night, killing three people in its path.
Rescue work continued on Tuesday.
In Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, in the fast west, rain-triggered disasters killed six people and left two others missing last week, local authorities said.
Torrential rains pounded Akto County in Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture from July 26 to 27, triggering floods and damaging houses and mines.
In several cities of southern Xinjiang, heavy rain has destroyed roads and bridges and cut power supplies. Repair work is continuing.
The northwestern Qinghai Province, however, is suffering from heat and drought, the local weather bureau said.
High temperatures ranging from 31 to 38 degrees Celsius were recorded in major cities including Xining, Golmud and Minhe over the past 10 days, breaking records back till 2001.
The extreme weather was likely to dent production of highland barley, a staple food for the plateau residents, by 35 percent, said Dai Sheng, a senior engineer with the provincial climate center.
A series of rain-triggered disasters have killed 14 people and left seven others missing in northwest China over the past week, local authorities said Tuesday.
A mud-rock flow hit the Tibetan village of Sunan County in Zhangye City at 2 p.m. last Thursday and buried 10 people from a local herder's family, the county government said in a press release.
As of Monday, rescuers had retrieved five bodies but the other five remained missing, it said.
Another mud-rock flow struck the same village late Sunday night, killing three people in its path.
Rescue work continued on Tuesday.
In Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, in the fast west, rain-triggered disasters killed six people and left two others missing last week, local authorities said.
Torrential rains pounded Akto County in Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture from July 26 to 27, triggering floods and damaging houses and mines.
In several cities of southern Xinjiang, heavy rain has destroyed roads and bridges and cut power supplies. Repair work is continuing.
The northwestern Qinghai Province, however, is suffering from heat and drought, the local weather bureau said.
High temperatures ranging from 31 to 38 degrees Celsius were recorded in major cities including Xining, Golmud and Minhe over the past 10 days, breaking records back till 2001.
The extreme weather was likely to dent production of highland barley, a staple food for the plateau residents, by 35 percent, said Dai Sheng, a senior engineer with the provincial climate center.
