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2 mln affected in Chinese rainstorms

16 July 2012 22:03 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Torrential rain last week affected more than 2 million people in several southern Chinese provinces, according to local authorities, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

More than 13,000 residents in a southwestern Chinese prefecture have been evacuated as rainstorms lashed the area on Monday, local authorities said.

Authorities in the Kaikou township in Qiannan prefecture of Guizhou province relocated to safety more than 3,000 residents who were trapped by flooding.

Meanwhile, about 10,000 residents in Pingtang county of Qiannan prefecture were evacuated as one third of the county seat have been submerged by flood waters of up to one meter deep.

The rainstorms also have caused power outages and landslides and damaged roads and thousands of homes.

Local civil affairs authorities have sent bottled water, food and tents to the flood-ravaged regions and flood relief work is ongoing.

The latest round of rainstorms that started from last Wednesday in Guizhou had affected 1.1 million residents in 44 counties and left 11 dead and three missing as of Monday afternoon.

Torrential rain last week affected another 750,000 people in Hunan province, according the provincial flood control and prevention headquarters.

Heavy rain have poured on Hunan since last Wednesday. A total of 175 counties and townships in the province have been affected, leaving 410 houses collapsed and inundating 21,100 hectares of cropland.

Meanwhile, the flood control and prevention headquarters of neighboring Jiangxi province announced on Monday that, as of Sunday morning, 168,700 people have been affected by rainstorms sweeping central and north areas of Jiangxi. The extreme weather has also led to the collapse of 49 houses.

The provincial flood control and prevention headquarters has relocated 2,690 people away from possible rain-triggered floods and mudslides.

In Anhui province, authorities ordered the operators of more than 240 reservoirs to start discharging water on Monday to prevent them from overflowing, as the water levels of three major rivers in the areas have surpass safe levels.

Anhuiâ€™s flood control and prevention headquarters has dispatched more than 7,500 cadres and other people to check the river banks, and no serious risk has been reported so far.