At least?47 people have died and?50 are still missing
after torrential rains in Hunan
Province flooded mountain village homes that collapsed as their
occupants slept.
Almost 55,000 people have been affected by the devastation.
All communications, traffic and power lines have been cut to
Taizhimiao Township, the worst hit in Xinshao County.
The Beijing-based State Flood Control and Drought Relief
Headquarters verified reports on the season's disasters in western
parts of the central province.
"Downpours have, since Tuesday, pounded 24 counties and cities
across the province with daily precipitation recorded in five of
them up to 100 millimeters," sources for the headquarters said.
"Torrents of water rushed down the mountain in the small hours
of the morning, flooding houses in 10 villages dotted across three
townships in Xinshao County, with more than 30 houses collapsing on
farmers who were fast asleep," local sources said.
"Damage caused by the disaster is still being assessed," the
sources said, adding that disaster relief teams have been mobilized
by local authorities.
The flood season has well and truly begun in south China and
rains are expected nationwide over the next three months,
accompanied by typhoons in coastal areas.
"From June to August, two massive rain belts are expected from
the south along the Yangtze River to the north on the middle and
upper reaches of the Yellow River," said Qin Dahe, a top official
with the China Meteorological
Administration.
In the north, the rain belt is likely to hit the Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region, northern Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region and southern parts of northeast
China.
In the south, rains are expected to hang over the Yunnan-Guizhou
Plateau, vast areas between the Huaihe and Yangtze rivers, and
regions south of the Yangtze with potential flooding likely to
batter the middle and lower reaches.
Minister of Water Resources Wang Shucheng urged local
governments in flood-prone areas to get their anti-flood schemes
ready and to prepare themselves for much worse floods this
summer.
(China Daily June 2, 2005)