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September 22, 2011

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Flooding and landslide death toll reaches 115 as river levels peak

FLOODS and rain-related disasters have left 115 people dead and 36 missing in nine of -China's provincial-level regions up to yesterday, according to the National Disaster Reduction Commission.

The highest flood peak in the history of the Qujiang River passed through southwest China's Sichuan Province yesterday, leaving 25 dead and 14 missing, according to local authorities. Flooding has caused great damage in Sichuan. More than 83,000 houses have collapsed.

Heavy downpours, floods and landslides have affected more than 6 million people in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Henan, Chongqing, Hubei, Shandong, Shanxi, Gansu and Qinghai, according to the commission. The Ministry of Civil Affairs has sent 22,000 tents, 70,000 cotton quilts and 35,000 items of clothing to the affected regions, the commission said.

The commission and the ministry yesterday jointly launched an emergency response plan to deal with flooding in central China's Hubei Province. Local authorities said that flooding in the region has affected 703,500 people since last Thursday.

Yesterday, the year's highest flood peaks on the Yangtze and Jialing rivers caused extensive flooding in Chonqing and pushed water levels up at the Three Gorges Dam by 2 meters.

On the Jialing River, a major tributary of the Yangtze, the peak reached Changtianmen dock in downtown Chongqing, southwest China, around 4am, taking the water level to nearly 180m for six hours or more.

Flooding submerged most trees and buildings along the river in Ciqikou, a township in Chongqing dating back nearly 1,000 years. Among other areas affected, Hechuan and Beibei districts were worst hit. No casualties were reported.

By Tuesday afternoon, nearly 125 streets in Hechuan, both in the city and along the river, had been submerged, affecting 325,000 people, Chongqing Economic Times reported. The old quarter of Hechuan remains flooded. In Heyang Street alone, nearly 20,000 people were trapped in dozens of residential buildings.

The crest on the Yangtze arrived at the Three Gorges Dam around 8am yesterday. The flow into the reservoir reached 47,000 cubic meters per second, according to the Yangtze flood control headquarters.





 

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