Severe flash floods triggered by heavy rainfall killed at least
25 people and left 30 missing in southwest China's Guizhou Province, sources with the provincial
government said yesterday.
Downpours that lasted for three hours on Monday night caused
flash floods in Wangmo County, toppling 400 homes, according to the
province's information office.
Wangmo is a mountainous county, under the Qianxinan Bouyei and
Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Guizhou.
An average of 190 millimeters of rainfall hit the county during
the period, while in some parts it surpassed 200 millimeters, the
office said.
The provincial government has dispatched officers from relevant
departments to Wangmo for disaster relief efforts.
"The downpours cut off water and power supplies, communications
and transport facilities in the county seat," said a provincial
official surnamed Zhao, who is in charge of flood control and
disaster relief.
Because the floods happened at about midnight on Monday, many
people living in remote regions had little time to flee, Zhao
said.
A panel headed by officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs
have rushed to the county for flood relief support, said Wang
Zhenyun, director of disaster relief at the ministry.
A total of 5,900 people were evacuated to safe places in Wangmo
and neighboring Luodian County ahead of the torrential rain.
According to Wang, the province's civil affairs department has
allocated 1 million yuan (US$125,000) for flood-hit residents.
The provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, Guizhou, Jiangxi and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have been hit
by rainstorms since May, with floods, landslides and house
collapses killing about 100 people and forcing the evacuation of
hundreds of thousands of people.
(China Daily June 15, 2006)