Floods kill 65 in Sichuan, 30 others missing

Sixty-five people have been killed and 30 are missing following flooding in southwest China's Sichuan province since late last month.

A woman with a package on back is evacuated in Dazhou, southwest Sichuan Province, after receiving a flood warning on July 10, 2005. [newsphoto]

The Sichuan Daily said the victims died or went missing during flooding from June 28 to July 8. Among them, were 20 people from Dazhou city, which is submerged in deep floodwaters.

Rainstorms and flooding swept over 84 counties and cities in the province, with 18 cities and counties reporting rainfall of more than 200 mm. The disasters affected 8.988 million people, flattened 30,000 houses, damaged 106,000 houses and totally destroyed more than 33,000 hectares of crops, according to the provincial disaster relief office on Sunday.

The disasters also seriously damaged telecommunications, power supply, water conservancy and traffic facilities in the affected areas, the office said.

China Central Television meanwhile said 420,000 people from the seven cities have been relocated, among 7.2 million people affected in those cities.

China's civil affairs and finance ministries alloted 23 million yuan (2.7 million US dollars) in disaster relief funds to the cities, it said.

In the worst-hit city Dazhou, 250,000 people had been made homeless and forced to relocate with a total of two million people affected, an official from the city's civil affairs department said.

The water level has reached up to the third floor of some buildings, submerging the streets in the city, state media showed.

Armed police paddle a boat to evacuate local residents to safety in Dazhou, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, Friday, July 8, 2005. [Xinhua]

Newspapers carried pictures of rescuers plying the deep floodwaters in inflatable boats. A baby was shown in one photo being transported by police in a floating plastic tub.

All roads leading to the city had been cut off following torrential downpours which have dumped 461 millimetres (18 inches) of rain on the city since Wednesday.

Police were evacuating residents to safe areas and government officials had rushed to the flood-hit zone, Xinhua said Sunday.

The latest deaths bring the toll from flooding this year in China to about 800 people killed or missing, with the main July-August flood season just starting.

Floods have always been part of life in China but this year they have been more devastating than usual.

The most severely affected areas have been the southern provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan and Guangdong, as well as Guangxi Zhuang region, where unusually heavy rain had caused rivers to swell.