Rain-triggered disasters leave 70 people dead or missing in China

Rain-triggered disasters leave 70 people dead or missing in China

2011-07-08 23:18:33 GMT+7 (ICT)

BEIJING (BNO NEWS) -- Chinese authorities on Friday said that floods and landslides triggered by recent heavy rains in the country's 20 provincial-level regions have left 70 people dead or missing over the past eight days, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The National Disaster Reduction Commission said in a statement that the downpours have resulted in disasters that have killed 49 and resulted in the disappearance of 21 others between July 1 and 8.

Two rounds of heavy rains hit the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Sichuan and the autonomous regions of Xinjiang and Tibet between July 1 and July 8, triggering landslides and floods. A total of 307,000 people were forced to evacuate from their homes.

According to the statement, rain-triggered disasters have caused an estimated 6.39 billion yuan (988.5 million U.S. dollars) in direct economic losses.

In late June, the Chinese government allocated an additional 175 million Yuan ($26.92 million) to help flood victims in Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi and Sichuan provinces. Since the harsh weather began, 340 million Yuan ($52.5 million) has been granted for flood relief efforts.

Flooding and rainstorms in parts of China have killed more than 140 people in recent weeks, while hundreds of thousands more have been forced to evacuate. Nearly 2,000 people have also been injured as a result of the severe weather.

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