Rainy season brings death, floods
- Source: Global Times
- [00:55 June 18 2010]
- Comments
Residents seem ready for the downpour in Jinan, Shandong Province Thursday. The local meteorological authority said rain began falling at 6:30 pm and left 26.4 millimeters of water on the ground. Photo: CFP
By Fu Wen
At least 46 people died and 50 were missing Thursday as heavy rainstorms drenched large areas of southern China on Wednesday.
Some 2.56 million people were affected in six provincial-level regions, including Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi and Sichuan, the China News Service reported Thursday.
The National Meteorological Center continued its yellow rainstorm alert at 6pm Thursday to warn of the ninth downpour within two months, which could cause flooding and mudslides in seven provinces.
The center raised the emergency response level from four to three Thursday, meaning the disaster can cause significant impact to the economy and people's lives.
Casualties resulting from rainstorms in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region rose to 27 by Thursday, including 12 deaths and 15 people missing.
More than 680,000 people were affected, with direct economic losses estimated at 428 million yuan ($ 63 million).
Jiang Liangbin, a deputy director of the flood control office in Guilin, Guangxi, told the Global Times Thursday that the government ordered relevant agencies to be alert for potential flooding, but no hazardous conditions had yet been reported.
The water level of the Lijiang River rose above the flood alert level by 1.5 meters as of 15:30 pm Thursday, said Jiang.
The local government mobilized a helicopter rescue of 13 people in Sanjiang, Guangxi, on Wednesday.
The victims were trapped in a lumber factory surrounded by rising floodwaters, the Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday.
More than 100 millimeters of rain was recorded in the township within three hours Wednesday, the report said.
Zhang Mingying, senior engineer of the Beijing Meteorological Center, told the Global Times Thursday that the normal rainy season in southern China began in May and more provinces in East China's Yangtze River and Huai River regions will enter the heavy rain season next week, lasting for nearly a month.
"The rainfall volume has been high compared with rainfall statistics in previous years because more rain fell on southern China this year," said Zhang.
