Dozens dead as floods, typhoon ravage China
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E-mail Xinhua, August 18, 2013
Dozens of people have been killed and millions affected in China as floods ravaged the country's northeast and typhoon lashed southern provinces over the past few days.
Northeast China has been hit by the worst flooding in decades this summer.
In Jilin Province, floods hit a residential compound in Hongshi Township, Huadian, around 4:00 a.m. on Friday, leaving 14 dead.
About 200 residents from some 70 families have been relocated from their submerged community.
The provincial civil affairs department said 890,000 people have been affected by the flooding since Wednesday, and 35,000 houses were destroyed or damaged with direct economic losses at 2.4 billion yuan (387 million U.S. dollars).
As of 9 p.m. Saturday, 105,566 people in the province have been properly relocated, said the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.
In neighboring Heilongjiang Province, 11 flood-related deaths were reported on Friday and three people remain missing since the floods began on Aug. 10, bringing water levels in three major rivers in the province to dangerous levels.
Nearly 2 million people in Heilongjiang have been affected, with 140,000 being relocated, according to the provincial civil affairs department.
The floods have destroyed over 2,500 houses and severely damaged at least 12,500 others in the province, with direct economic losses estimated at 7.13 billion yuan.
In Liaoning Province to the south of Jilin, more than 140 reservoirs discharged water after rain from Thursday to Saturday raised levels above warning lines.
Railways and highways were cut off and bridges damaged by the floods in Fushun City where rainfall was the heaviest.
The National Commission for Disaster Reduction and the Ministry of Civil Affairs have sent work teams and relief supplies to the areas, according to a ministry statement.
While the northeast regions are battling the flooding, southern Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region are fighting with a devastating typhoon, which has left at least 10 people dead and four others missing.
Typhoon Utor, the 11th and the strongest this year, made landfall Wednesday near Yangjiang, Guangdong, after it crossed the Philippines earlier this week, killing at least seven people and leaving four missing.
Four people were killed and four others went missing in the province due to downpours and floods triggered by the typhoon, which also affected more than 1 million people there, local flood control authorities said.
The southwest monsoon hit Guangdong following the typhoon, and left six people dead and three others missing, according to local flood control authorities.
As of 4 p.m. Saturday, more than one million people from 262 villages and towns were affected by heavy rainfalls triggered by the monsoon, said the authorities, adding that 109,300 people were relocated.
The torrential rains led to suspension of 12 passenger trains and delay of more than 40 trains from Guangzhou, capital city of Guangdong, where thousands of passengers were stranded on Saturday.
The typhoon moved into Guangxi Wednesday night, bringing downpours and floods that left six people dead and more than 650,000 others affected in eight cities, local authorities said.
Also in Guangxi, six tourists went missing near a scenic spot in Lipu County, local authorities said, noting that their search and rescue efforts were hampered by downpours.
In central China's Hunan Province, five people were confirmed dead and four others missing in Lanshan County due to the downpours that started since Thursday, said local authorities.
As of 9 p.m. Saturday, 85,400 people in Lanshan County were affected by the rainstorms, the flood control and drought relief headquarters of Lanshan said, adding that 35,000 people have been relocated.
Residents in five villages and towns have been out of reach as communication was interrupted and transportation disrupted. Rescue teams that walked to the five regions arrived there on Saturday evening.
About 93,000 mu (6,200 hectares) of farmland was affected and 198 houses collapsed in the downpours, according to the headquarters.
