A bank collapse along a rain-swollen river in Fujian Province flooded 11 villages where
thousands of families were asleep Thursday morning, killing an
undetermined number of people.
Neighboring provinces in the south are bracing for downpours
that could lead to more flooding.
Authorities were trying yesterday to determine the number of
deaths and injuries in the mishap in Changting County of Fujian
Province in southeast China.
More than 30 meters of the embankment was flushed open by the
floodwater along the Bashili River at Hetian Town about 3 AM,
authorities said.
The water inundated 11 villages, where people belonging to more
than 3,500 households were sleeping, they said.
The nightmare began about two hours after the downpour hit the
county. The town of Hetian received 91 millimeters of rain within
two hours.
Before the bank collapsed, at least 41 people had been killed in
the heaviest rainstorm Fujian experienced in decades, the
provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters reported
yesterday.
Since the heavy rain hit Fujian on May 28, many rivers have
flooded in its north-central and western areas. The hardest-hit
areas were Longyan, Sanming, Quanzhou, Ningde, Nanping and the
provincial capital Fuzhou, authorities said.
More than 400,000 residents were forced to flee their homes.
Mud and rock flow and landslides triggered by the severe weather
have toppled about 10,000 houses and damaged another 55,000,
according to the flood headquarters.
In addition, more than 100,000 hectares of crops were
damaged.
Provincial authorities have estimated direct economic losses at
more than 3.15 billion yuan (US$394 million).
The heavy rain also has forced education authorities to postpone
the college entrance exam, which started on Wednesday, for more
than 4,500 students in Fujian's Jian'ou City.
In Fujian's neighboring province of Jiangxi, rail traffic was
disrupted yesterday as floods destroyed the roadbed for a national
rail artery that links Beijing to Kowloon in Hong Kong.
More than 30 meters of the rail roadbed collapsed. Trains
heading south were delayed for about two hours. Passengers going
north were waiting yesterday for the repair work to finish.
In southwestern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,
authorities yesterday said at least 12 people were killed in
landslides following the heaviest rainstorm over the past 40 years
in the city of Wuzhou.
The city reported 250 millimeters of rain within 12 hours ending
7 AM yesterday.
The torrential rain led to at least 930 landslides across the
city during the period.
(Shanghai Daily June 9, 2006)