Society

Xinjiang gripped by flood fear

By Cui Jia (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-22 08:50
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After surviving continuous snowstorms for three months, people in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region not only had to deal with last weekend's sandstorm but are also living in fear of snowmelt floods caused by rising temperatures.

Record snowfall and extremely cold weather has plagued the region's northern Tacheng and Altay prefectures, and Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture this winter.

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Temperatures in these areas started to rebound in the middle of last week. In Tacheng, the temperature climbed from 0 C to 10 C overnight, which caused the snow to melt faster than usual. In Kuokesu village, the rising temperature caused 70 cm of snow to melt rapidly, leading to a flood that put resident's lives and property at risk.

"We immediately evacuated 18 families and more than 70 people from the village," said Lu Xinrong, director of Tacheng area's flood control office. "We are expecting more floods in the near future as the region starts to warm up."

Due to snow and sleet over the weekend, temperatures in Tacheng, Altay and Ili have dropped below 0 again, which has reduced the risk of flooding. Authorities have warned residents to be on guard against further snowmelt floods when temperatures begin to climb again.

As of Saturday, almost all of the 56,000-sq-km Ili prefecture was covered with snow, officials with the local weather bureau told Xinhua News Agency.

Ili River Valley received a record volume of snowfall from October to March and precipitation in the past six weeks alone has been more than three times that of previous years, Xinhua reported.

"There is no flooding in the Ili River Valley yet but we are closely monitoring the weather condition and preparing for severe flood because of the volume of snowfall this year," said Maoken Saiyitihamuzha, director of Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture on Sunday.

Freezing weather and heavy snowstorms in Xinjiang since December have left 30 people dead and three missing, local officials said this month.

The snowstorms, the worst in six decades, have seriously affected about 1.9 million people, either by destroying their homes or killing livestock.