China's flood death toll reaches 90

China.org.cn, Xinhua, September 22, 2011

Recent rain-triggered floods and related disasters have left 90 people dead and 22 others missing in nine of China's provincial-level regions as of Wednesday, according to the National Disaster Reduction Commission (NDRC).

Rising waters submerge the piers of the Qujiang Bridge in Quxian County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, September 19, 2011. [Xinhua]

Heavy downpours, floods and landslides have affected the regions of Sichuan, Shaanxi, Henan, Chongqing, Hubei, Shandong, Shanxi, Gansu and Qinghai, according to the commission.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs (MOCA) has sent 22,000 tents, 70,000 cotton quilts and 35,000 items of clothing to the affected regions, the commission said.

The NDRC and the MOCA also jointly launched an emergency response plan to deal with flooding in central China's Hubei Province on Wednesday. Local civil affairs authorities said flooding in the region has affected 703,500 people since Sept. 15.

The highest flood peak in the history of the Qujiang River passed through southwest China's Sichuan Province on Wednesday, leaving 25 people dead and 14 others missing, according to local authorities.