At least 68 people have died as a result of storms sweeping the
country since last Wednesday.
And heavy summer rains continue to wreak havoc across China,
according to the National Disaster Reduction Center.
Millions of people are in need of relocation as their homes have
been destroyed by heavy rain, the centre, under the Ministry of
Civil Affairs, said in disaster reports on its website
yesterday.
Also yesterday the Central Meteorological Office issued a
warning for heavy rains expected to hit Huaihe River areas in Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Shandong provinces
in Central and East China in the coming days.
Eight people were confirmed dead and another missing in floods
in Huludao of Northeast China's Liaoning Province last week.
Heavy showers hit Huludao from early last Thursday until around
8:00 am the next day, bursting dams and causing flash floods in the
Wuli and Lianshan rivers that run through the city.
The highest rainfall was reported at 243 millimeters in the
city, a record since 1991.
Searches continue for missing people and residents have begun
rebuilding their homes, according to the local flood control and
drought relief department.
The cost of the floods is still being calculated.
In Yuzhou of Henan Province in Central China, three people were
found dead and another one is still missing after rainstorms hit
the city and neighboring areas on Sunday. Some areas experienced
record rainfalls of 300 millimeters.
Rainstorms caused floods which burst dams in Xiashuihe Village
and Shihe Village, leaving three people dead and another one
missing. Torrential rain flattened 398 houses and 22 bridges in a
dozen townships of the city, causing an economic loss of 20 million
yuan (US$2.5 million).
In Zhaotong in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, heavy rain,
hail storms, flash floods and landslides have killed 11, injured
nine and left six missing.
In neighbouring Sichuan Province, storms unleashed floods and
mudslides last week killing 19.
Bad weather has been a major problem this summer, killing at
least 349 people in June, when another 99 others went missing, and
causing an economic loss of 20.2 billion yuan (US$2.53 billion),
according to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA).
Wang Bangzhong, vice-director of the disaster forecasting and
relief department of the CMA, said at a press conference yesterday
that the most serious climatic disasters in June were rainstorms
which caused floods, landslides and mud-rock flows in a dozen of
provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in South
China.
"We are intensifying our disaster relief efforts while providing
aid for the disaster-hit areas as the rainy season is coming," said
Zheng Yuanchang, an official in charge of disaster relief at the
Ministry of Civil Affairs.
While some areas of southwestern and Central China are suffering
deluges, East China's Fujian Province will have scorching sun
today, with the temperature in most parts of the province reaching
more than 35 degree centigrade.
The Central Meteorological Office yesterday released a
high-temperature warning as some areas in the province are expected
to reach 39 degrees centigrade.
(China Daily July 4, 2006)