107 dead in China storms

[lauhumku]

Jul 14, 2010
107 dead in China storms

<!-- by line --> <!-- end by line -->

Chinese residents make their way along a flooded street after torrential rains in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province. -- PHOTO: AFP

BEIJING - TORRENTIAL rains and severe flooding have left 107 people dead and 59 missing in ten Chinese provinces, mostly along the Yangtze River following recent storms, state media said on Tuesday. The Xinhua news agency said that as of Tuesday, rain-triggered floods had affected some 29 million people and 997,000 had been evacuated.

The latest toll is more than double that reported by Xinhua on Monday following rains along the Yangtze River, China's longest, over the past week. Heavy downpours in central and eastern China have caused water levels in major lakes and some river tributaries to rise alarmingly, state media has said.

Earlier Tuesday, 17 people were confirmed dead and 44 others were missing after torrential rains sent landslides crashing into villages in south-western China, officials and state media said. In Yunnan province, four people were killed and 42 others went missing when rocks came crashing down on a local township in the city of Zhaotong, a local official told AFP. Another 53 people were injured in the disaster, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

In neighbouring Sichuan province, two separate landslides left 13 people dead and two missing, the report said. The disasters continue a run of rain-triggered death and destruction from flooding across a huge area of southern, central and eastern China since June that the government said has left hundreds dead. China is ravaged every summer by heavy rains and resulting deadly flooding but the extreme weather has been especially severe this year. -- AFP

 

[lauhumku]

Chinese residents make their way along a flooded street after torrential rains in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province. -- PHOTO: AFP

Chinese residents make their way along a flooded street after torrential rains in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province. -- PHOTO: AFP

Chinese residents make their way along a flooded street after torrential rains in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province. -- PHOTO: AFP



​

 

[lauhumku]

Chinese residents make their way along a flooded street after torrential rains in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province. -- PHOTO: AFP

Chinese residents make their way along a flooded street after torrential rains in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province. -- PHOTO: AFP

Chinese residents make their way along a flooded street after torrential rains in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province. -- PHOTO: AFP



​

 

[lauhumku]

Chinese workers set a temporary dam across a flooded street after torrential rains in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province. -- PHOTO: AFP

A Chinese worker takes a break at a temporary dam which is placed across a flooded street after torrential rains in Wuhan,
central China's Hubei. -- PHOTO: AFP

Water rages during the year's biggest release of water from the sluice for flood prevention at the Three Gorges Dam in Yichang,
central China's Hubei province. -- PHOTO: AFP



​

 

[lauhumku]

China flooding kills 701


Jul 21, 2010
China flooding kills 701

<!-- end left side bar -->

A resident walks through a flooded street covered with garbage in Quxian county, Sichuan province. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

<!-- story content : start --> BEIJING - FLOODING this year has killed 701 people, left 347 missing and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage, the worst toll across the board that China has seen in a decade, a senior Chinese official said on Wednesday. Three-quarters of China's provinces have been hit by flooding and 25 rivers have seen record-high water levels, Liu Ning, general secretary of the government's flood prevention agency, told a news conference.

Aside from the 701 dead and 347 missing, 645,000 houses were toppled and overall damage totalled 142.2 billion yuan (S$28.7 billion). All the figures, Liu said, were the highest China had seen since 2000. With the flood season far from over, this year is shaping up to be one of the most devastating since 1998, which was the worst in 50 years. Flooding, particularly along the Yangtze River Basin, has overwhelmed reservoirs, swamped towns and cities, and broken off hillsides causing landslides that have smothered communities.

Soldiers used bulldozers to plough through debris on Tuesday in search of survivors from separate landslides in Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces, while workers in other parts of the country scrambled to drain overflowing reservoirs and pile up sandbags to prevent further flooding, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Three people were killed late on Sunday night by landslides in Lingao county in Shaanxi province that also left 17 missing, Xinhua reported. In all, flooding and landslides from rain-soaked hillsides in Shaanxi have killed 37 and left another 97 missing. In nearby Sichuan province, rescuers searched for 13 missing people after a landslide hit Xujiaping Village on Tuesday morning, burying homes and blocking roads, Xinhua reported. -- AP

 

[lauhumku]

Worst flood toll in decade


Jul 21, 2010
Worst flood toll in decade

<!-- end left side bar -->

PHOTO: AP

BEIJING - MORE than 1,000 people have died or disappeared in severe flooding in China so far this year, and the heaviest rains are still to come, a senior official warned Wednesday. This year's floods, which have caused tens of billions of dollars in damage already, have exacted the highest death toll since 1998, when the highest water levels in five decades claimed 4,150 lives.

With the typhoon season rolling in, Liu Ning, general secretary of the government's flood prevention agency, told a news conference authorities must ramp up preparations. 'Since 60 to 80 per cent of the annual rain level occurs in June, July and August, we should be prepared to prevent and combat potential disasters,' Liu said.

Flooding, particularly along the Yangtze River basin, has overwhelmed reservoirs, swamped towns and cities, and caused landslides that have smothered communities, including toppling 645,000 houses. The Three Gorges Dam faced its highest levels ever this week and water breached the massive dam.

'Although water levels in the upper stretches of the Yangtze River have surpassed that of 1998, the flood situation is still not as severe because the Three Gorges Dam has played a key role in preventing floods along the river this year,' Liu said.

The waters have killed 701 people and left 347 missing. The overall damage totals 142.2 billion yuan (S$29 billion), Liu said. This year's torrential floods have hit farms especially hard, affecting 930,000 hectares of crops, with more than 133 hectares destroyed by floods as of July 10, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. -- AP

 

[lauhumku]

Journalists take photos as flood water is released from the Three Gorges Dam's floodgates in Yichang, in central China's Hubei province.
-- PHOTO: AP

Flood water is released from the Three Gorges Dam's floodgates in Yichang, in central China's Hubei province.
-- PHOTO: AP

Rescuers were searching Tuesday for 30 people buried in landslides as flood waters from days of heavy rain surged past the Three Gorges Dam,
the world's largest. -- PHOTO: AP



​

 

[lauhumku]

The Three Gorges Dam faced its highest levels ever this week and water breached the massive dam. -- PHOTO: AP

China's massive Three Gorges dam is facing a major test of the flood control function that was one of the key justifications for its construction, as torrential rains swell the rivers that feed it, state media said on Monday. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Water is discharged from the Three Gorges Dam to lower the level in its reservoir in Yichang, Hubei province. Torrential rain that has lashed China for weeks has killed dozens more people in China's west and forced authorities to close shipping locks on the massive Three Gorges Dam, officials said on Tuesday..
-- PHOTO: REUTERS



​