Rainstorms and floods have killed 98 people in central China's
Hubei and Anhui provinces since the flood season began
in June, according to local governments.
Sixty-eight people have been killed and 25 others were missing
in Hubei Province. Another 402,200 people have been evacuated from
affected areas, said Liu Hui, deputy head of the disaster relief
office under the provincial civil affairs department at a press
conference on Sunday afternoon.
Hubei, which is also called "the province of thousands of
lakes," has experienced six major rainstorms since June, which have
triggered floods in more than 2,000 rivers, mountain torrents, and
landslides, causing an economic loss of more than 3.8 billion yuan
(US$500 million), said Liu.
The central and local governments had allocated more than 90.5
million yuan (about US$11.9 million) of relief funds to the
affected areas and all the evacuated people have been well
accommodated, said Liu. "The evacuated residents have been arranged
to live in tents, government buildings, schools or at their
relatives and local governments have sent medical teams to treat
the injured," said Liu.
The official with the provincial flood control office warned
local government to prepare for new floods as heavy rainstorms were
expected to hit Hubei from Tuesday to Friday.
"Although the large rivers, like the Yangtze and the Hanjiang
Rivers, remain calm so far, the water level of 2,000 rivers of
smaller size have risen dramatically, posing a serious threat to
the flood control in the counties where the dams are poorly
maintained," said Guo Zhigao, deputy director of the provincial
flood control office.
In addition, most of the reservoirs in Hubei have used out their
capacities and some even reported leakage and overflow, according
to Guo.
More than 90,000 people have been patrolling on the dams and
around the reservoir and residents nearby have been asked to
evacuate to safe places.
In neighboring Anhui Province, the provincial disaster relief
authority announced Sunday that floods have killed 30 people and
affected more than 15 million residents in 15 cities of the
province.
Consistent rainfalls started to pour down Saturday in
southwestern Anhui and the northern part of the Huaihe River, with
precipitation in 30 townships exceeding 100 millimeters.
By 8:00 AM Sunday, 60,000 houses had collapsed, and 585,000
people have been forced to relocate. A total of 300,000 people are
suffering from drinking water shortages. Total economic losses have
reached 9.17 billion yuan (about US$120 million), the latest
statistics from the provincial disaster relief show.
The provincial civil affairs department has allocated 5.3
million yuan (about US$0.7 million) for the disaster relief work.
By Thursday, 44 million yuan (about US$6.3 million) allocated by
the central government had been sent to the flood-battered
areas.
Sources with the Huaihe Water Resources Committee said water
level at Wangjiaba, a crucial hydrological station along Huaihe
River, has been pushed up by fierce downpours in the upper reaches
of the river to 28.21 meters by 10:00 AM Sunday.
When the last flood peak arrived, eight buffer zones along the
Huaihe River were commandeered, including the Mengwa flood reserve
near Fuyang in the eastern province of Anhui. The water discharge
led to the evacuation of about 157,800 residents.
The committee said the third flood peak is likely to pass
Wangjiaba late Monday, and they may have to discharge water from
the station to Mengwa again if the water level reaches warning
marks.
Nine flood reserve areas along the Huaihe River, with eight in
Anhui, have been commandeered to combat the coming flood peak. The
Luohewa flood reserve area in Huainan City of Anhui was put to use
for the first time of the year at 4:00 PM Sunday.
On Friday, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited troops and residents
fighting the floods in Anhui. He promised that evacuees will get
maximum compensation allowed by rules from the government.
By Friday, a total of 403 people had been killed as a result of
flooding, 105 were missing and 3.17 million people had been
relocated as the rains coupled with ferocious flood waters continue
to batter central and southern China.
(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2007)