Officials count human cost of Sichuan's week of downpours
Source: Xinhua |
July 17, 2013, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
AT least 58 people died and 175 others have been reported missing due to rainstorm-triggered floods and a landslide in southwest China's Sichuan Province last week, the local government said yesterday.
A major landslide which hit a village in Dujiangyan City last Wednesday left 44 people dead and 117 missing, said Tan Xiaoping, a senior official of the Sichuan Flood Prevention and Drought Relief Headquarters.
From July 7 to 12, rainstorms hit 43 counties in Sichuan, with accumulated precipitation of 400 to 800 millimeters in Deyang and Dujiangyan, and 800mm to 1,151mm in some areas of the two cities, said Ma Li, deputy head of the Sichuan Provincial Meteorological Administration.
Some 13,400 houses collapsed, 3.47 million people were affected and 300,000 people relocated because of the downpours.
As of 4pm on Monday, the disasters had caused direct economic losses of 20.2 billion yuan (US$3.28 billion), said Tan.
The provincial and local governments have earmarked a total of 230 million yuan for disaster relief and sent some 4,000 tents, 30,000 quilts, as well as clothes and food to affected areas.
The province is set to experience further heavy rainfall in its western areas until tomorrow with precipitation of more than 300mm, according to the provincial meteorological center.
The center has warned there may be more natural disasters such as landslides, mud-rock flows and floods.
Yesterday, workers began to remove a dangerous barrier lake which had formed after a landslide and continuous rainfall and was threatening residents in seven townships in Hanyuan County in Sichuan.
The barrier lake is 3 kilometers from a hydropower plant under construction in the county's Sanjiao Township.
A landslide blocked the Liusha River, forming a lake with water about 40 meters deep, said a Hanyuan official.
There is about 2 million cubic meters of water in the lake and water levels are expected to rise because of flooding upstream.
Workers were planning to use explosives to remove some of the rocks and then dig channels to discharge the floodwater. The work is expected to take about 10 days.
A major landslide which hit a village in Dujiangyan City last Wednesday left 44 people dead and 117 missing, said Tan Xiaoping, a senior official of the Sichuan Flood Prevention and Drought Relief Headquarters.
From July 7 to 12, rainstorms hit 43 counties in Sichuan, with accumulated precipitation of 400 to 800 millimeters in Deyang and Dujiangyan, and 800mm to 1,151mm in some areas of the two cities, said Ma Li, deputy head of the Sichuan Provincial Meteorological Administration.
Some 13,400 houses collapsed, 3.47 million people were affected and 300,000 people relocated because of the downpours.
As of 4pm on Monday, the disasters had caused direct economic losses of 20.2 billion yuan (US$3.28 billion), said Tan.
The provincial and local governments have earmarked a total of 230 million yuan for disaster relief and sent some 4,000 tents, 30,000 quilts, as well as clothes and food to affected areas.
The province is set to experience further heavy rainfall in its western areas until tomorrow with precipitation of more than 300mm, according to the provincial meteorological center.
The center has warned there may be more natural disasters such as landslides, mud-rock flows and floods.
Yesterday, workers began to remove a dangerous barrier lake which had formed after a landslide and continuous rainfall and was threatening residents in seven townships in Hanyuan County in Sichuan.
The barrier lake is 3 kilometers from a hydropower plant under construction in the county's Sanjiao Township.
A landslide blocked the Liusha River, forming a lake with water about 40 meters deep, said a Hanyuan official.
There is about 2 million cubic meters of water in the lake and water levels are expected to rise because of flooding upstream.
Workers were planning to use explosives to remove some of the rocks and then dig channels to discharge the floodwater. The work is expected to take about 10 days.
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