Floods triggered by tropical storm Bilis are finally retreating
in China's coastal provinces after at least 198 people died, local
officials said.
In Guangdong Province, the worst hit, people
struggled to cope with water shortages, ravaged roads and other
damage, the China News Service reported yesterday.
Moreover, traffic, water, electricity and communications have
returned to normal in Fuzhou, capital of east China's Fujian Province, the Xinhua News Agency
reported.
But rain was still forecast for Hunan and Guangdong provinces today and
tomorrow.
To better deal with the disastrous floods, the Ministry of Civil
Affairs activated Grades 4 and 3 of the emergency response
mechanism, Xinhua said.
A round-the-clock alert towards possible geological disasters
issued by the Ministry of Land and Resources remained in
effect.
During a field visit to Hunan, Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu urged
authorities and governments in disaster-hit areas to take effective
relief measures to relocate those who had lost their homes and to
curb the spread of infectious diseases.
Hui said storm-ravaged areas still face great challenges, asking
governments at all levels to take effective measures to prevent
more possible disasters and ensure safety of major rivers and
reservoirs in the flooding season.
The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters have
sent a dozen of task forces to check flood prevention and control
efforts along major rivers.
Hui warned local officials of their duty in flood control,
asking them to take measures against possible spread of epidemics
in flood-hit areas.
The vice-premier also urged local governments to help farmers
restart farming production in disaster-ravaged areas to minimize
the damage to crop growth and harvest.
Geological disaster supervision, patrol work and risk appraisal
must focus on flood control of small and medium-sized rivers and
reservoirs while being on alert for large-scale ones, Hui
noted.
Ten more people had been confirmed dead from the storms in south
China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, bringing the
death toll in China to 198, Xinhua said.
Fed by the tropical storm Bilis, heavy rainfall in a large area
over a longer time span than usual has led to the disastrous storms
in Guangdong during the past days, said Wang Dongxiao, an
oceanographer from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Statistics indicated that as many as 92 people have been
confirmed dead and more than 100 are missing in Hunan.
Bilis the fourth tropical storm of the season, which that landed
on the mainland on Friday also claimed 43 lives in Fujian Province
and 44 in Guangdong.
Furthermore, 557 reservoirs in the region were forced to
discharge floodwater yesterday because of the torrential rains.
Direct economic losses from the storm totalled 12 billion yuan
(US$1.5 billion) after 160,000 hectares of crops and 113,000 houses
were destroyed, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on its website
yesterday.
Bilis triggered heavy rainfall and severe floods in Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan and Guangdong
provinces and Guangxi when it came ashore.
(China Daily July 19, 2006)