One dead, seven missing in rain-triggered landslides
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Landslides triggered by the new round of torrential rain have left one dead and seven missing in central Hubei Province, the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters said Wednesday.
Flooding also damaged 18,000 hectares of crops, toppled 730 homes and inflicted a direct economic loss of 195 million yuan (30.1 million U.S. dollars) in four cities of Hubei, the agency said in a statement.
Heavy rain has swept 62 counties and districts in Hubei since Monday, with Xian'an District in the city of Xianning recording the largest amount of precipitation, 206 mm, it said.
Local authorities in Xian'an have relocated nearly 10,000 residents from danger and suspended classes at all primary and middle schools to avert disasters.
Previous heavy rainfall had already caused widespread destruction in Xianning, leaving dozens dead and over 100 injured.
In the city of Shiyan, a landslide left six hydropower station workers missing and formed a barrier lake by blocking a river, prompting the evacuation of 2,000 downstream residents.
The round of torrential rain also battered several other provinces along the Yangtze River, including Chongqing, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Zhejiang.
About 10,000 people in Jiangxi have been evacuated as water in several rivers has risen above warning levels, according to local flood control and drought relief authorities.
In Hunan, a river has overflowed its embankments, inundating nearby farmland.
Flooding and landslides triggered by earlier two rounds of rainstorms left 105 people dead and 63 more missing in the south in the ten days prior to June 13, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
The ministry said Wednesday that the latest round of rains and flooding in six provinces, including Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan and Guizhou, has left seven people dead and seven more missing over the past three days.
The heavy rains, which have battered several southern regions since Monday, forced about 88,000 people in the provinces to evacuate their homes as of 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to a statement posted by the ministry on its website.
