More than 15,000 homes have been destroyed and 221,000 hectares of farmland submerged in Heze city, east China's Shandong Province, after heavy rainstorms in the past two weeks, the provincial flood control bureau said Thursday. 

Bureau officials said heavy rains had hit eight counties of Heze since Aug. 20 with an average precipitation of 194 millimeters, nearly twice that at the same period of last year.

Rain waters had flooded 99 townships and affected more than 1.13 million people.

The direct economic losses were estimated at around 900 million yuan (108.43 million US dollars).

Officials of Shandong Provincial Civil Affairs Department said the provincial government had allocated 3.4 million yuan (410,000 US dollars) and sent relief goods, including over 1,000 tents and five tons of flour, to residents of the flood-stricken areas.

(People’s Daily September 5, 2003)