5 die in mudslide as floods hit central China
Print Edition
THE death toll from a mudslide in central China’s Hunan Province had risen to five by yesterday afternoon, while four people remain missing, according to the local government.
Nineteen others were injured in the mudslide, which happened at about 4pm on Saturday in Zuta, a village in Ningxiang County which had seen continuous heavy rain since Friday.
Many parts of the county received over 200 millimeters of precipitation in 24 hours. Flooding disrupted traffic and telecommunications and raised water levels in reservoirs and rivers above warning levels.
A rescue and search operation is under way.
Hunan has suffered severe flooding following torrential rain over the past 10 days. Since June 22, parts of several cities have been inundated, forcing 311,300 people to evacuate, destroying 6,369 houses and damaging 295,160 hectares of crops.
Yesterday afternoon, the water level in a section of the Xiangjiang River, a major tributary of Yangtze, in the provincial capital Changsha exceeded the previous record high of 39.18 meters set by a massive flood in 1998 to reach 39.42 meters, according to Changsha flood control office.
Already at 3.2 meters above the warning level, the water level is expected to continue to rise as heavy rain is forecast for upstream regions over the next few days.
Local authorities issued a red alert yesterday afternoon, warning that water levels along the whole course of the Xiangjiang River are forecast to be near or above record levels during the next three days.
The water levels of Dongting Lake and several other major rivers in Hunan have all risen above warning levels, worsening the flood control situation.
More than 2,000 paramilitary policemen joined locals to repair damaged dikes and help over 7,000 people to be evacuated in the cities of Shaoyang, Yiyang and Huaihua.
Water levels were rapidly rising in major tributaries in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze, the country’s longest river, the Yangtze River Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said.
It ordered the Three Gorges Reservoir on the river to reduce the discharge flow to 18,000 cubic meters per second from 2pm on Saturday to relieve flood pressure downstream.
Other upstream reservoirs also took part in the flood control effort.
The level of the Zishui River in Taojiang County was only 38 centimeters lower than its record high, according to the Hunan Provincial Hydrological Bureau.
Around 1am on Saturday, a 20-meter stretch of the Taxi, a small branch of the Zishui, burst its banks, according to a local official.
The Hunan flood control and drought relief headquarters raised the flood response from Grade III to Grade II on Saturday. The province has mobilized soldiers, officials and villagers, allocated funds and sent relief supplies to affected areas.
“The water level is rising and my house is in danger of being submerged. I was relieved when I saw a rescue boat coming,” said Zhou Changsong, who was evacuated on Saturday afternoon from Chenxi County, where eight towns were flooded.
Downpours also hit the provinces of Hubei, Guizhou and Jiangxi, and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
In Jiangxi, which neighbors Hunan, seven people died and two were missing due to flooding in the past 10 days, the provincial flood control headquarters said.
About 440,000 people have been evacuated in Jiangxi.
On Saturday morning, a landslide buried two residential buildings in a village in Xiushui County, but caused no casualties as all 39 residents had been moved a few days before.
More than 70 passenger trains passing through Jiangxi were suspended over the weekend due to floods, the Nanchang Railway Bureau said.
In Guangxi, flooding disrupted railway services, with 45 trains canceled or detoured.
The latest round of torrential rain since Saturday has affected more than 270,000 people in 28 counties in Guangxi, leaving seven people dead and three missing.
The National Meteorological Center yesterday issued a blue alert for rainstorms, forecasting heavy rain for many parts of east and south China within the next day. The southern coastal regions of Guangxi are expected to receive precipitation of up to 180mm in 24 hours.
The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters launched an emergency response plan on Saturday and sent eight work teams to flood-hit areas to guide relief work.
Meanwhile, in north China, a heatwave affected Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia, with temperatures reaching 37 degrees Celsius.
The National Meteorological Center said the heatwave would continue until tomorrow, with temperatures in some areas rising to 40 degrees.
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