The death toll from flash floods in a county in central China's
Henan Province, has reached 78 and 18 are
still missing, local authorities said on Friday.
Lushi County, in western Henan, was hit by continuous torrential
rains from Saturday till Monday, which triggered flash floods and
damaged transport, power, communications and other facilities in
ten townships, said a spokesman with the provincial department of
civil affairs.
The floods destroyed more than 6,000 houses and more than 6,667
hectares of cropland, he said.
The county saw an average rainfall of 361 mm last month, or 360
percent the average level, close to the record of 368.8 mm seen in
1958, he said.
The provincial government has dispatched relief teams to the
areas to help local residents rebuild homes and resume
production.
In addition to fierce rains and flash floods, a lack of
monitoring systems and inadequate flood prevention expertise in the
remote, mountainous and usually arid county were to blame for the
huge casualties and great losses, said Yang Biantong, deputy
director of the provincial flood-prevention office.
(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2007)