Fleeing aftermath of killer storm
Source: Xinhua |
May 12, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
At least 37 people were killed and 19 others remained missing yesterday after hail and torrential rains battered a mountainous county in northwest China's Gansu Province, authorities said late last night.
As of 6pm, the storms had affected about 35,000 people in Gansu's Minxian County, forcing the evacuation of nearly 30,000 local residents.
Another 40 people were hospitalized. Roads were blocked, houses collapsed, and farmland was destroyed by the extreme weather, according to the Minxian civil affairs bureau.
The bureau said the stormy weather lasted just from 5pm to 6pm, but wreaked havoc in all of the county's 18 townships. In the worst-hit areas, precipitation measured nearly 70 mm.
Hail and torrential rain cut power in six townships, damaged several homes, hospitals and schools, disrupted traffic on two interprovincial highways and destroyed over 7,000 hectares of crops, county authorities said.
China's National Disaster Reduction Committee and the Civil Affairs Ministry raised the level of emergency response from level 4 to level 3 yesterday afternoon.
A disaster-relief team led by Sun Shaocheng, deputy minister of civil affairs and consisting of officials from nine ministries, was heading to the disaster-hit area.
About 2,000 officials, as well as 800 soldiers and militiamen, have trudged through mud and water into storm-battered areas to rescue trapped villagers.
The Gansu Red Cross said it was sending 1,000 quilts and 1,000 coats to Minxian to help with disaster-relief efforts. The provincial finance bureau, meanwhile, has earmarked 2 million yuan (US$317,500) to repair damaged water facilities.
Food and water have been allocated to the evacuated residents by local authorities.
Minxian is a mountainous county with a population of 450,000. It is 150 kilometers from Zhouqu County, where a rain-triggered mudslide killed more than 1,500 people in August 2010.
Thursday's rains also triggered floods in two other counties in Gansu as well as parts of the city of Longnan and the Gannan Tibetan autonomous prefecture.
No deaths were reported in those areas.
The national flood control and drought relief headquarters issued warnings to northwestern provinces, urging them to step up weather-monitoring and flood-prevention efforts.
As of 6pm, the storms had affected about 35,000 people in Gansu's Minxian County, forcing the evacuation of nearly 30,000 local residents.
Another 40 people were hospitalized. Roads were blocked, houses collapsed, and farmland was destroyed by the extreme weather, according to the Minxian civil affairs bureau.
The bureau said the stormy weather lasted just from 5pm to 6pm, but wreaked havoc in all of the county's 18 townships. In the worst-hit areas, precipitation measured nearly 70 mm.
Hail and torrential rain cut power in six townships, damaged several homes, hospitals and schools, disrupted traffic on two interprovincial highways and destroyed over 7,000 hectares of crops, county authorities said.
China's National Disaster Reduction Committee and the Civil Affairs Ministry raised the level of emergency response from level 4 to level 3 yesterday afternoon.
A disaster-relief team led by Sun Shaocheng, deputy minister of civil affairs and consisting of officials from nine ministries, was heading to the disaster-hit area.
About 2,000 officials, as well as 800 soldiers and militiamen, have trudged through mud and water into storm-battered areas to rescue trapped villagers.
The Gansu Red Cross said it was sending 1,000 quilts and 1,000 coats to Minxian to help with disaster-relief efforts. The provincial finance bureau, meanwhile, has earmarked 2 million yuan (US$317,500) to repair damaged water facilities.
Food and water have been allocated to the evacuated residents by local authorities.
Minxian is a mountainous county with a population of 450,000. It is 150 kilometers from Zhouqu County, where a rain-triggered mudslide killed more than 1,500 people in August 2010.
Thursday's rains also triggered floods in two other counties in Gansu as well as parts of the city of Longnan and the Gannan Tibetan autonomous prefecture.
No deaths were reported in those areas.
The national flood control and drought relief headquarters issued warnings to northwestern provinces, urging them to step up weather-monitoring and flood-prevention efforts.
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