Heavy downpour causes casualties in China

At least 20 people are dead or missing and lives of more than 1.8 million disrupted after a new round of heavy downpour pounded middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

In central China's Hubei Province, the rainstorm has swept 21 counties since Saturday, leaving four people dead and 12 missing, according to the provincial civil affairs department.

The downpour has affected 880,000 residents, including about 10,000 who were relocated to safety. It toppled or damaged more than 1,100 rooms and affected 58,320 hectares of farmland, inflicting direct economic losses worth 620 million yuan (94 million U.S. dollars).

Disaster relief supplies, including tents, beds, quilts and clothes have been dispatched to the worst-hit Huanggang City.

Similar losses have been reported in the downstream Jiangxi Province, which has also been hit by heavy rain since Saturday.

The downpour killed two people and left two missing in the province. It affected more than 940,000 people, including 58,000 relocated, according to the provincial civil affairs department.

Nearly 400 rooms were destroyed and about 63,000 hectares of farmland was damaged, with the losses worth 750 million yuan.

Jingdezhen City of Jiangxi has seen waterlogging, which led to the evacuation of 12,000 locals.

At 6 p.m. of Sunday, the water level of the local Changjiang River was three meters higher than the alarm level.

Heavy rainstorms have brought chaos to much of east and south China this week, causing many casualties.

China's meteorological authority on Sunday continued a yellow alert for heavy rain across most parts of the country in the coming two days.

Thunderstorms will hit the provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei and Yunnan from Sunday morning to Monday morning, with precipitation reaching 200 millimeters in some areas.

Vice Premier Wang Yang called for intensified efforts to prevent flood and mitigate loss from possible flood disasters on Saturday.

Affected by super El Nino, China would face very complicated weather conditions and there is a relatively high possibility of basin-wide floods occurring this year in the country, Wang warned.

source  : xinhua