Two extremes: Policemen helping to evacuate flood trapped residents in Wanzhou district, while (below) visitors bake in the sun along a stretch of the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall of China. — AP
BEIJING: Fifteen people have been killed and four are missing after torrential rain in southwest China, state media said.
“The latest round of torrential rains since Monday had killed 15 people and left four others missing in the southwest’s Chongqing Municipality as of 7am Wednesday (yesterday)”, state news agency Xinhua said.
The confirmation of casualties comes after officials on Tuesday put in place an alert for rain-triggered disasters across large swathes of central and southwest China.
President Xi Jinping has ordered that “authorities at all levels must give top priority to ensuring people’s safety and property”, Xinhua said.
“Xi underlined that leading officials at all levels must take the lead in fighting the floods, put the people’s safety and property first, and strive to minimise all kinds of losses,” Xinhua added.
In a sign of how extensive the damage is, workers on Tuesday discovered that a closed-off railway bridge on the outskirts of Chongqing had collapsed after it was “damaged by the impact of mountain torrents”, state broadcaster CCTV said.
In neighbouring Sichuan, authorities said more than 460,000 had been affected by the heavy rain this month, Xinhua reported.
About 85,000 people have been evacuated from their homes as a result of the rain, officials said, with “flash floods in mountainous areas” and “possible mudslides in some parts” of the country expected this week. “Over 7,500ha of crops have been damaged.”
The city’s emergency response headquarters office has raised the relief response to Level III, allocating more than 29,000 items of disaster relief supplies to Wanzhou District, the hardest-hit area where record-high rainfall was seen.
Meanwhile, China’s National Meteorological Centre yesterday renewed a yellow alert for high temperatures as heatwaves linger in parts of the country.
During daylight hours on Wednesday, temperatures in parts of Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, Henan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, and Xinjiang are forecast to exceed 35°C.
In some areas of Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, and Henan, temperatures may surpass 40°C.
The centre has advised people to avoid outdoor activities and drink water regularly to prevent a stroke. — Agencies
