A briefing from the Liaoning Provincial Command for Combating Floods and Droughts said that extremely heavy rainfalls between 9 p.m. Saturday and 11 p.m. Sunday caused flooding in southern parts of the province, especially in the cities of Anshan, Yingkou and Dashiqiao.

In Dashiqiao city, one of the worst hit regions, an urbanite was killed in the floods while a farmer reported missing. According to witnesses, some parts of the city had been inundated by waters of over a meter.

The local government estimated that the floods had destroyed some 13,000 hectares of farmland, washed away fish and crab breeding ponds with a total area of nearly 600 hectares and killed over 10,000 head of livestock.

More than 60 trains traveling between the port city of Dalian and the provincial capital Shenyang were delayed, as they slowed to 45 km per hour while traversing the affected areas.

Senior officials from the Liaoning provincial government arrived at the flooded areas to take charge of the rescue and relief work, while troops stationed nearby were also mobilized, local sources said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2002)