Torrential rains and lightning storms have left 15 people dead,
scores of homes destroyed, and roads and power supplies cut in
southwest China since Monday.
Rains lashed Chongqing Municipality and triggered
landslides and mud-rock flows in 22 of its 40 counties and
districts in the southern, central and western parts. Ten people
were killed, five are missing and 128 are injured or ill.
A total of 2.72 million people were affected, including 113,100
evacuated from their homes.
Heavy rains destroyed more than 10,000 houses and ruined 118,060
hectares of crops.
In downtown areas, water submerged 22 streets and cut off
traffic. By noon, 48 power lines were downed and more than 200
firefighters were fighting fires caused by lightning.
In worst-hit areas, rainfall reached about 200 millimeters by
5:00 PM on Tuesday and had caused losses of more than 863 million
yuan (US$113.5 million).
As the rain continues, the Yangtze River is expected to swell by
7.43 meters in the Cuntan hydrological station by Wednesday and the
Jialing River up by 9.7 meters at the Beibei hydrological station.
Local authorities have been put on flood alert.
The municipality is still recovering from heavy rain at the
beginning of this month that affected 180,000 people, destroying
3,150 hectares of crops and inflicting losses of 27 million yuan
(US$3.55 million).
Rainstorms also wrought havoc in the adjacent Sichuan Province. Two villagers were killed in
the Shehong County in east Sichuan in landslides, and three died in
lightning strikes in the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in the
southern part of the province.
In northwest Xinjiang Uygur and north Inner Mongolia autonomous regions, five people
have died in heavy rain and lightning storms since Saturday.
Heavy rains hit Xinjiang from Saturday, battering a Mongolian
tent at a scenic site in the Dongshan District of Urumqi, killing
two and injuring eight others.
The Lanzhou-Urumqi railway linking Xinjiang and Gansu was cut
off at the Erbao Township of Hami City, where the roadbed of the
312 state highway was damaged as well.
In Xinyuan County of the Kazak Autonomous Prefecture of Ili in
northern Xinjiang, a mud-rock flow damaged five roads and 56 houses
together with one tent, resulting in losses of more than 100,000
yuan (US$13,157).
Local government officials are evacuating residents to safe
areas, but the exact number is still unknown.
Heavy rains and hail left a hundred tourists stranded in the
Tianshan Valley on Tuesday afternoon. "The road bed has subsided by
five meters," said Wu Juan, a tour guide with the Shanshui Tourism
Agency. In Wu's group alone there are 77 tourists, including 33
from Beijing.
Police in Kuqa County were attempting to get to the site, Wu
said.
In Inner Mongolia, three villagers were killed by lightning at
about 4:30 PM on Monday in the Biliutai Township of the Bairin Left
Banner in the eastern part of the autonomous region.
Farmers He Ming, 50, Wang Zhong, 51, and Zhang Guohua, 42, were
struck by lightning while working in fields.
(Xinhua News Agency July 18, 2007)