Sunday, August 18, 2013

40 killed in worst flooding in decades in China

Zee News: At least 40 people have been killed and 32 are missing in heavy rains in northeast and southeast China while thousands of rescuers have been engaged in relief efforts to deal with the worst flooding seen in decades.  Liaoning Province today reported 15 deaths, bringing the death toll from the severe floods to 40 in the area, state-run Xinhua news agency.

Thirty-two others went missing after downpours drenched Fushun city on Friday and Saturday, local officials said.  Dams were damaged and businesses suspended operation in the city. Some 349 houses collapsed and 1.39 lakh houses were damaged. A total of 4,000 people are in need of temporary shelters.

The power and water supply in the town were cut off after the torrential rain. In the whole province, about 100,000 people have been evacuated and nearly 800,000 were affected in the floods after downpours with a maximum precipitation of 400 millimetres within 24 hours hit Liaoning.

Some 113,333 hectares of farmland were also affected in the floods.  The economic losses caused by the floods in Liaoning were estimated to reach more than USD 340.5 million, the Xinhua report said...

The Grand Canal flooding on July 28 in Shandong, shot by Rolfmueller, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

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