Rain-swollen rivers continued to rage across several provinces
yesterday, threatening more floods.
Since last Thursday, at least 97 people have been killed and 41
are missing in flood-battered Guangdong,
Guangxi,
Fujian,
Jiangxi,
Zhejiang
and Hunan
across south, southeast and central China, the Ministry of Civil
Affairs said.
More than 16 million people have been affected by flooding and
landslides with about 1.4 million displaced. Financial losses have
been put at more than 11.3 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion).
In the worst affected areas, disaster-relief authorities stepped
up their efforts to evacuate people to safety and strengthen
dykes.
By yesterday more than 570,000 people had been evacuated in the
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The death toll stands at 27,
reports Xinhua.
The Xijiang River was 1.2 meters above the danger level in
Wuzhou, where people from low-lying areas were evacuated on
Wednesday.
"More than 100,000 people and soldiers are now bracing
themselves for the worst peak of the floods on the river as it
passes Guangxi," a source with the State Flood-Control and Drought
Relief Headquarters said.
In Guangdong, the death toll reached 40 with 10 people missing,
according to sources in the Guangdong Provincial Flood-Control and
Drought Relief Headquarters.
About 600,000 people there have been affected by the disaster
and thousands of homes destroyed or damaged. Losses in the region
are estimated at 500 million yuan (US$60 million).
The flood situation has become worse as the water levels of the
Xijiang, Beijiang, Dongjiang and Hanjiang rivers, the major
tributaries of the Pearl River, have continued to rise, surpassing
their danger marks.
Traffic in many cities was paralysed after sections of highways
and railways were breached by the floods.
The Beijing-Kowloon Railway has been out of action since
Wednesday; and more than 4,000 railway workers and soldiers are now
working day and night to help repair the Huizhou-Longchuan section
of the line.
"The Guangdong Section of the Beijing-Kowloon Railway will not
be able to return to normal in the near future," said an executive
from the Guangdong Railway Group Corporation
(China Daily June 24, 2005)