Rainstorms in South and Southwest China have killed 170 people
and forced 1.6 million people to flee from their homes since late
May, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Wednesday.
The latest disaster happened on Tuesday morning, when mud and
rock flattened a petrol station in Xingyi, Guizhou Province,
killing two people and injuring two others, Guizhou Metropolis
Newspaper reported yesterday.
Started from June 1, continuous heavy rains have caused serious
floods in Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Sichuan and
Guizhou provinces, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region as well as
Chongqing municipality, said Li Baojun, a ministry official in
charge of disaster relief.
Fujian and Guizhou have suffered the most, with a total of 98
people killed and more than 20 others still missing, Li said.
In South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, two
rainstorms in the past three weeks have killed 21 people and
affected the lives of more than 4.6 million others, a regional
civil affairs spokesman said.
The two rainstorms, hitting 71 counties around Wuzhou and Baise
between June 7 and 10 and between June 13 and 15, caused mud-rock
flows, landslides and mountain torrents, he said. 195,500 people
were evacuated from their homes.
The civil affairs department has sent five rescue teams to nine
cities to help locals reconstruct their homes, he said.
Meanwhile, the central government has allotted 21 million yuan
(US$2.6 million) in relief funds, which will be distributed among
disaster-ravaged cities including Wuzhou and Guilin, the spokesman
said.
By mid June, China's central government had earmarked 116
million yuan (US$14.5 million) in emergency disaster relief for
flood victims in southern China, statistics from Li's ministry
indicated.
The disaster-affected area was larger and damage was heavier
than last year, Li Baojun said, adding the disasters have led to 15
billion yuan (US$1.85 billion) of economic losses so far this
year.
In related news, regions in the middle and lower reaches of the
Yangtze River entered the annual rainy season yesterday.
Intermittent drizzle will linger in these areas for about one
month, according to Shen Shuqin, a chief weather forecaster at
Jiangsu Meteorological Station.
Provinces along the Yangtze River should implement grass-roots
preparation measures to fight against floods as the river basin
enters the rainy season, warned Wei Shanzhong, an official in
charge of flood control along the Yangtze River.
Despite the rain, meteorologists are worried about a possible
drought.
Statistics indicate that rainfall in Jiangsu Province since June
has been nearly 40 per cent below average, leading to the drying up
of many rivers in the province.
(China Daily June 22, 2006)