Concentrated torrential rains have struck parts of Liaoning Province, an industrial base in
northeast China, resulting in a serious flooding and the collapse
of a key bridge, according to local sources.
The bridge destroyed by the flooding is known as Xiongyue Bridge
on a trunk highroad connecting Heihe, a border city in Heilongjiang
Province, and Dalian, a port city in Liaoning, early on Wednesday
and it is unknown whether there was any casualty in the bridge
collapse.
Currently, traffic on the Heihe-Dalian Highway was halted
temporarily, said sources from Liaoning Provincial Bureau of
Communications.
According to Liaoning Provincial Meteorological Observatory, it
started to pour torrential rains to rainstorm on Monday in cities
of Dalian, Dandong, western Shenyang, Anshan, southern Yingkou,
central Fushun and Panjin, plus moderate to heavy rains in
Shenyang, Liaoyang, Benxi, central Yingkou.
Panjin, where it rained rainstorm since Monday night, had 145 mm
of precipitation in just seven hours, which led to water logging in
downtown areas of the city.
The provincial meteorological observatory issued 10 rounds of
rainstorm warning signals between Monday and Tuesday and offered
guidelines to prevent damages from rainstorms.
(Xinhua News Agency August 2, 2006)