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| Firefighters help residents cross a flooded street yesterday in Suining City, Sichuan Province. (Photo/Shanghai Daily) |
RAINSTORM triggered flooding and landslides have ravaged nine provincial-level regions since Saturday, killing 39 people and leaving 13 others missing, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said yesterday.
Torrential rains and hail have swept Hebei and Shanxi provinces and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region since Sunday. Inner Mongolia reported 18 deaths with four people missing.
In the region's Ordos City, eight people drowned on Sunday after their shacks were flooded.
A freight car and a minivan were washed into a river by a flood unleashed from a mountain on Sunday afternoon, killing three and leaving seven others missing.
Downpours also hit Zhejiang and Anhui provinces. The ministry reported nine deaths and four missing in Anhui.
Four of the nine deaths occurred in Huangshan City, home to scenic spot Yellow Mountain, which experienced its worst flooding in a century, Xinhua news agency reported.
The ministry also reported nine deaths and five missing in Sichuan Province, two deaths in Chongqing City and another death in Hubei Province.
The worst flooding in 54 years was reported in several counties in Sichuan on Sunday, according to weather.com.cn.
Natural disasters caused by the downpours have affected about 2.44 million people in 34 counties in Sichuan and forced the evacuation of some 119,500 people, according to the ministry.
More than 5,600 houses were destroyed and another 10,000 damaged, it said.
In Chongqing, about 876,000 people have been affected and 104,000 evacuated amid rain-triggered disasters.
The Chongqing government has allocated 10 million yuan (US$1.63 million) in emergency relief funds and dispatched more than 500 armed police as well as 50 emergency rescue boats for rescue work, according to the ministry.
Government officials in Mixin Town said electricity supplies were cut on Sunday night and two streets were flooded yesterday, forcing the evacuation of 110 families.
Some people posted online that some seniors were trapped in their homes in Sichuan's Tongnan County as up to 300 millimeters of rain fell in some areas of the province.
China's weekly story (2013 6.22-6.28)
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