Torrential rains batter south China
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E-mail Xinhua, June 14, 2012
Heavy rains continued to fall in south China on Wednesday, triggering floods and resulting in the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people, local authorities said.
Rain-triggered floods have swept 32 counties in nine cities in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region over the last few days.
Rainstorms have affected a total of 355,400 people in Guangxi and forced 13,600 residents to relocate.
About 12,410 hectares of crops have been damaged and 1,867 houses toppled, with direct economic losses amounting to 113 million yuan (17.8 million U.S. dollars), according to the region's civil affairs department.
Traffic on the No. 321 national highway in the region was disrupted by rain-triggered landslides. The local maritime department dispatched a group of ships to help about 6,800 stranded passengers evacuate via water routes.
In neighboring Hunan Province, heavy rains have swelled rivers and lakes. The annual flood peak of the Xiangjiang River safely passed the capital city of Changsha on Wednesday morning.
In east China's Jiangxi Province, rainstorms have affected nearly 740,000 people and forced 17,500 residents to relocate to date.
Huangpi township in the province's city of Ganzhou has witnessed once-in-a-century downpours over the last few days.
East and south China are expected to see heavy rains from Tuesday to Thursday, according to a Tuesday statement by the National Meteorological Center.
Villagers in Huangpi township are rushing to repair collapsed riverbanks and channels, as a new round of rainstorms is approaching.
