China worst flood ever killed 135 people

Time : 2010-07-16

AT least 135 people have been proved dead and 41 lost, maybe the worst floods in years continues in southern China.

By 16:00 yesterday, about 35.5 million people in 10 southern provinces and the municipality of Chongqing has been hit by storms and floods continued since 01 July, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said in a notice on its website web.

More than 113,000 homes were destroyed and more than 1.2 million people had been relocated, the ministry said. Direct economic losses are estimated at around 26 billion yuan (U.S. $ 3,800,000,000), compared with 22.2 billion yuan on Wednesday. In Jiangxi province alone, at least eight people have died since 08 July, and direct economic losses amounted to more than 2.9 billion yuan.

The Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said yesterday before the floods had killed 594 people in 26 provinces since early this year. Another 212 people were missing. In Hubei province, continuous rains and floods caused by rain since 03 July have left 32 dead and two missing. Heavy rainfall has raised water levels in many rivers in the middle and lower Yangtze River, China's longest, and a new round of rainstorms are expected to skin the river suddenly, with what possibility of severe flooding. The river of the Three Gorges Dam raised the water speed downloads yesterday afternoon to save space in the nearby waters gushing flood.

China's meteorological authorities forecast rain yesterday by the central and eastern China over the next three days. Heavy rains and rainstorms come to some regions in the provinces of Sichuan, Guangdong, Hainan and Shaanxi, and Guangxi Autonomous Region and the Huaihe River basin, China Meteorological Administration said. Southeastern Gansu, Inner Mongolia, northeastern and western Heilongjiang will also see heavy rain over the next three days, with some parts experiencing torrential rains.

The authority also said the weather Consona typhoon is moving towards Hainan and Guangdong, at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour. It hit land sometime between this afternoon and early Saturday and bring strong winds.