Torrential rains battering central and southern China unleashed floods and landslides that killed at least 94 people, turning areas enduring drought just more than a week ago into scenes of muddy destruction, local news reports said yesterday.
In Yueyang, Hunan Province, weather stations recorded more than 200mm of rain in six hours, the kind of downpour that strikes once every 300 years, the China News Service reported, citing local weather officials.
In Maojiazu Village in Yueyang, the pelting downpours triggered a mudslide that crushed 24 homes and killed at least 20 residents, with another seven missing under boulders and mud, most likely dead, Xinhua news agency reported.
Photo: AFP
“The concentrated scope, intensity and short duration of these recent rains have caused grave casualties and damage to property in some areas,” said Chinese Minister of Water Resource Chen Lei (陳雷), who also oversees the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, according to a report on its Web site.
The office said that heavy rains forecast along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River basin could trigger floods in an area gripped by drought less than two weeks ago.
By late on Saturday, the floods across parts of 13 provinces had killed 94 people with 78 missing, damaged 465,000 hectares of crops and toppled 27,100 houses and other buildings, the flood and drought office said.
That death toll did not appear to include all those killed in Hunan Province and elsewhere.
About 23 of those deaths happened in Xianning, Hubei Province, where rains triggered mudslides that also injured more than 100 residents and left 10 missing.
The recent drought had “dried up the region’s soil, which has increased the risk of landslides during recent heavy rainfalls,” Xinhua said, citing a provincial government adviser.
However, Maojiazu residents also said unfettered mining had weakened hills that collapsed under the weight of the rain.
“If it wasn’t for the quarrying above the village, Maojiazu would not have suffered such a disaster,” Yao Shifu, 71, said, according to the Beijing News.
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