|
500 000 evacuated in China
11/07/2007 17:25 - (SA)
Beijing - China had evacuated about 500 000 people from central areas along the Huaihe river by Wednesday, as experts forecast the worst floods for 50 years, state media said.
The Anhui provincial government opened sluice gates on Tuesday at the Wangjiaba dam on the Huaihe, allowing floodwater to flow onto farmland occupied by dozens of villages from which 150 000 people were evacuated, the official Xinhua news agency said.
The measure was intended to reduce the risk of flooding to some two million people living upstream in neighbouring Henan province, the agency quoted flood control officials as saying.
A total of 344 000 people were evacuated along the river in Anhui, with another 145 000 evacuated in Henan and Jiangsu province, which lies downstream from Anhui.
Experts warned that floods this year along the Huaihe are likely to be the worst since 1954, the agency said.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs on Wednesday said the death toll had risen to at least 131 by Tuesday, with another 31 missing, after floods and landslides caused by two weeks of torrential rain in seven provinces.
The floods had already forced the evacuation of 1.2 million people and affected some 36 million in the seven provinces since June 28, the ministry reported on its website.
More than 99 000 houses were destroyed and 407 000 were damaged in the seven provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Sichuan, Chongqing and Shaanxi, the ministry said.
Damage to buildings, crops and infrastructure caused direct economic losses estimated at 9.9 billion yuan, it said.
More rain is forecast in the same areas this week.
Floods and landslides have killed at least 360 people and affected 66 million in China so far this summer, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters. - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA
|
News
