Torrential rains that have killed 76 people will continue to deluge
south China, especially
Guangdong Province, for the rest of this week,
local meteorological departments forecast.
"Heavy downpours in most parts of the province will not stop
until Saturday," said Huang Zhong, a weatherman with Guangdong
Meteorological Station.
According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, 76 people have died,
13 are missing and more than 13.56 million people have been
affected by the storm system, which has caused an estimated 4.73
billion yuan (US$606 million) in overall economic losses.
"Continuous torrential rains, mud slides, and floods in southern
China have affected about 479,600 hectares of crops, completely
destroying nearly one third of them," said an official with the
ministry.
The number of houses destroyed by floods has risen to 69,000,
with another 144,000 houses damaged in southern China. Some 788,000
people were forced to evacuate their homes, the official said.
In Guangdong Province, which felt the brunt of the storm,
governments are handing out emergency funds and living necessities
to the ravaged areas.
As of Monday, the civil affairs department in the province had
allocated 13 million yuan in relief funds, 285 tents, 280 tons of
grains, as well as drinking water and food in disaster areas.
More than 10,000 people have been evacuated from six villages
that have been flooded to divert water from the swelling Hanjiang
River in southern Guangdong Province.
No casualties had been reported in the villages of Liuhuang
Town, said Guo Chunshan, the town's Party chief.
"All the evacuated residents have been appropriately resettled,
" said Guo, adding more people may be relocated if necessary.
The level of Hanjiang River, the second largest in Guangdong
after the Pearl River, reached 26.44 meters by late Sunday night,
the highest in 50 years, threatening at least 2.5 million people
along the middle and lower reaches. The level has dropped
nine-tenths of a meter since a sluice gate was opened at 4:00 AM on
Monday, but is still 3.5 meters higher than the danger level,
according to the flood control office of Fengshun County.
"Landslides and collapses have been frequent along the river dam
area," said Guo. "If we hadn't opened the sluice gate, the dam
might have overflowed and the losses would have been much more
serious."
The village of Huanshi was almost completely submerged after the
diversion. Most of the buildings submerged to the tops of their
doors and villagers were piling their belongings on bamboo
rafts.
"My house has been totally submerged and my whole family is
staying with relatives," villager Zhan Meizhi told Xinhua.
"I don't know when we can return home, but village officials
told us the government would take care of us and we will receive
compensation," said Zhan.
The local government organized more than 500 police and army
personnel to help with the evacuation and rescuers distributed
drinking water and food.
In Guangdong alone, at least 20 people were killed, 279 injured,
and four are missing, according to the Ministry of Civil
Affairs.
The province's economic losses stand at 1.25 billion yuan
(US$160 million), according to the ministry.
The ministry has sent rescue teams to the disaster-affected
areas to assist with relief work.
(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2007)
