China floods displace 650,000 people
Heavy rains destroy homes, crops and cut power; 15 people dead
Straits Times 6 Jul 09;
BEIJING: Flooding and heavy rain in southern China have forced more than 650,000 people to evacuate their homes and have killed at least 15, Chinese state media reported yesterday.
At least five people were reported missing.
The heavy rains that have raged for four days across southern provinces have destroyed houses, flooded crops, cut power, damaged roads and caused rivers to overflow.
Worst hit was Guangxi, where at least 285,800 people were moved out of their homes. Parts of the region were experiencing the worst flooding since 1996.
Workers dug sluices to relieve pressure on the Kama reservoir dam in Guangxi's Luocheng county, where a 13.5m section gave way under the weight of the water on Saturday.
About 15,000 people who lived downstream from the dam were moved to safety and are now living in more than 1,000 tents, the national flood control office said in a statement on Saturday.
Mr Chen Zhangliang, vice-chairman of the Guangxi region, said the sluices should alleviate the danger from the dam in a few days.
Crops on 103,400ha of land were damaged and 3,600 homes had collapsed by 11.40am yesterday, with total damage in Guangxi estimated at 1.34billion yuan (S$285million), Xinhua news agency said, citing the regional civil affairs department.
The rain also flooded 62 schools in Guangxi. Some 300 students were trapped in Hemu Town Middle School after flood waters blocked its entrances and rendered nearby roads impassable, according to an official of Rongshui county, in which the school is situated. Flood control officials used boats to deliver food, water and other supplies on Saturday, including pumps to lower the water level.
By Friday, 80per cent of Rongshui was inundated, causing the Rongjiang river to overflow its banks and forcing the relocation of more than 70,000 people.
After four days of torrential downpours, the rain began to subside in some parts of Guangxi yesterday, but the local authorities warned of more flooding as river levels remained high.
In the central province of Hunan, floods have killed eight people and forced 140,000 to relocate.
Five people have died in south-eastern Fujian province, two others were missing, and 22,000 people have been evacuated, Xinhua said on Saturday.
In Jiangxi, two people were killed and three others were missing. About 210,000 people had to flee their homes.
While rainstorms ravaged the southern parts of China, a serious drought has hit north-west China's Gansu province. It has led to a shortage of drinking water for some 230,000 people, Xinhua reported last week.
REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Floods wreak havoc in Vietnam and India too
Straits Times 6 Jul 09;
HANOI: Heavy rains triggering floods and landslides in mountainous northern regions of Vietnam have killed at least 15 people, destroyed houses and damaged roads, the government and state-run radio said yesterday.
Landslides killed 13 people in Bac Kan province and another 11 were missing as of early yesterday, Voice of Vietnam radio said.
Landslides and floods cut off roads, telecommunications and power supplies to a district in Bac Kan after heavy rains fell on Friday night, the government said in a disaster report.
Floods killed two people in the neighbouring provinces of Cao Bang and Ha Giang, while three others, including two children, were carried away and remain missing, the report said.
About 300 people were forced to leave homes destroyed in landslides, provincial roads were eroded, and small fields of rice, corn and cassava in the three provinces were damaged, the report said, adding that more rains were forecast.
Vietnam is often struck by floods and storms between July and October.
Meanwhile in India, an overflowing river swollen by heavy monsoon rains washed away five villages in India's remote north-east, forcing nearly 4,000 residents to flee to makeshift relief camps, an official said yesterday.
Nearly 300,000 people in Assam state have seen their homes flooded in several days of non-stop monsoon rains, including nearly 100,000 people marooned on an island in the Brahmaputra River.
There were no reports of casualties.
REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
