The Ministry of Finance has allocated an emergency fund of 80
million yuan (US$9.66million) to disaster relief in China's flood
areas, according to today's Guangming Daily. Meanwhile,
the Ministry of Civil Affairs yesterday arranged for 3,000 tents to
be sent to Guizhou, Hunan
and other disaster-stricken areas.
Major flooding brought on by heavy seasonal rains in southwest
China's Guizhou Province have claimed 49 lives over the past two
months, the local flood control and drought relief office said on
Tuesday.
This was the death toll as of Monday June 6.
Some 2.13 million residents in the province have been affected.
Over 3,000 houses have collapsed and more than 120,000 hectares of
farmland destroyed. Direct economic losses are estimated at 340
million yuan (US$41 million), according to statistics offered by
the office of the provincial government.
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The local civil affairs department has injected over 10 million
yuan (US$1.2 million) in disaster-relief, and rescue and
preventative efforts are ongoing in a bid to minimize
damage.?
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In related news, the death toll from flooding in Hunan rose to 87
on Monday.
(Xinhua News Agency, Guangming Daily,?June 8,
2005)