54 feared dead 168,000 evacuated in massive China rainstorms

[senorpepr]

BEIJING (AFP) - Twenty-seven people were confirmed dead and another 27 were missing after massive rainstorms lashed central China's Hunan province, forcing the evacuation of 168,000 people, an official said.

The rainstorms engulfed 30 counties in the province over a six-day period, disaster relief official Fang Zhiyong told AFP.

"Some people died because the floods washed them away, and some because their homes collapsed," the Beijing-based official said. "The floods also triggered mudslides."

Nearly eight million people live in areas affected by the storms, and 168,000 had to be relocated as their homes were threatened by the downpour and accompanying floods and landslides, he said.

The storms caused thousands of houses to collapse, with material losses estimated at three billion yuan (360 million dollars), he said.

"Some roads are extremely muddy or simply flooded," said Fang. "Traffic is very bad."

Among the worst-hit cities was Yueyang near giant Dongting Lake, which was also at the centre of large floods two years ago.

Torrential rains and flooding were responsible for nearly 2,000 deaths in China in the first nine months of last year, according to the latest statistics available.

This year could be no less disastrous. With the flood season approaching, China has warned that nearly 30,000 reservoirs have safety problems, and some might even collapse.

China, which is dominated by several large river systems, periodically sees major floods along its entire territory, from Inner Mongolia in the north to Guangdong province in the south.

Some 4,150 people died in 1998 when huge stretches of the Yangtze River overflowed. In 1991, 5,113 people perished, according to the office of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

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