A man walks on the handrail of a staircase at a flooded street in
southwest China's Chongqing municipality July 17, 2007.
Thirty-five people are dead and 11 are missing as rainstorms
continue to lash southwest China's Chongqing municipality,
according to the municipal flood control office.
More than 5.12 million people were affected by the
rainstorms.
About 152,750 hectares of farmland were damaged, and 1,854 cattle
killed, with losses exceeding 2.14 billion yuan (US$282
million).
Torrential rain that has lashed the municipality since Monday
dropped? more than 50 mm of rainfall in half of Chongqing's 40
districts and counties by Wednesday noon, with the maximum standing
at 408.2 mm in the Chenjiaqiao township, where more than 6,000
people have been evacuated.
Rainstorms also damaged 35 reservoirs, damaged 455 km of roadbed,
destroyed 44.8 km of power lines and 14.3 km of communication
lines.
The rainstorms caused eight colleges' libraries and dormitory
buildings flooded.
Two prisons, Baigongguan and Zhazidong, which were used by the
Kuomintang to hold Communist Party members before 1949 and have
since become tourism destinations, were flooded. Repairs would take
about three months, said sources with the culture, radio and
television bureau of Chongqing.
Local government has allocated 2.5 million yuan (US$328,947) to
disaster relief, while 5,249 soldiers with 47 vessels and 200
vehicles were dispatched to rescue people from flood-hit
areas.
In Sichuan Province, 2.62 million people were affected by
rainstorms that are forecast to continue tomorrow.
The adjacent Guizhou Province saw 3.05 million people affected by
rainstorms and ensuing disasters, which have killed 60 people since
the beginning of May.
By Wednesday, heavy rains have ruined 110,000 hectares of crops and
resulted in direct losses of 910 million yuan (US$119.7
million).
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A black car submerged along a flooded road.
A public bus is trapped in a flooded street.
(Xinhua News Agency July 19, 2007)
