Society
Heavy rains kill 70, losses mounting in S China
(Global Times)
Updated: 2010-05-11 10:49
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BEIJING - Meteorologists warned Monday of continuing heavy downpours in a large swath of southern areas where lashing storms have already claimed at least 70 lives and forced the relocation of about 145,000 people in less than a week.
 A villager carrying two children walks Sunday along a muddy road covered by a landslide in Nanding County, Jiangxi Province. The strong rainstorm, which began Wednesday, has destroyed roads in many areas of the province. [Xinhua] |
The China Meteorological Administration said torrential rainfalls, strong enough to cause landslides, are expected in the next three days in the provinces of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian, Hunan and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, as well as Chongqing Municipality, some of which suffered the worst drought in a century earlier this year.
The fresh storms have already triggered flash flooding and mud-rock flows, swollen rivers and burst dikes, as well as threatened reservoirs and damaged highways, bridges and power and telecommunication facilities.
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Guangdong was one of the worst-hit areas. The latest figures showed that 19 resi-dents were killed, and six were missing. More than 80,000 residents were evacuated, and 10,174 homes were toppled. A 168-millimeter rainfall was recorded Monday in Jiangmen, marking the highest rain total in Guangdong.
Local aid was being rushed Monday to people in storm-hit regions.
Chen Junwei was among the county government officials in Zhangshi, who distributed food and clothes to local villagers.
Chen told the Global Times that the torrential flooding and debris flow had leveled two residential areas of Shangyang village in his county.
"There haven't been any casualties so far. The affected villagers have all moved to their relatives nearby," Chen said, adding that a rebuilding plan is in the works.
