Downpour kills 8; thousands evacuated in SW China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-31 16:42

CHONGQING: Heavy rain that began on Thursday has killed eight people and led to the evacuation of more than 120,000 in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality and neighboring Sichuan Province, local flood control authorities said Monday.

The downpour, which hit most parts of Chongqing and Sichuan, measured nearly 160 mm in the worst-hit counties. It caused mud-rock flows and landslides and destroyed thousands of homes in the two places.

In Chongqing, a villager in Dazu County died Sunday after he accidentally stepped on an electric wire broken in the rainstorm, said Yan Yonghui, deputy chief of the municipal flood prevention office on Monday.

He said the downpour caused a blackout Saturday and Sunday in Dazu County, where 26 high-tension power lines were destroyed.

A total of 7,076 people were evacuated in the 11 worst-hit counties and districts of Chongqing as of 7 am Monday, said Yan. "At least 198,000 more people suffered damages to their houses and croplands."

A total of seven people were killed and another two were missing in Sichuan Province, where nearly 6,000 homes toppled and 118,000 people were evacuated, said Yang Jingping, deputy chief of the provincial government's emergency office.

The deluge swelled most rivers and lakes in southwest China, including the Yangtze, the country's longest waterway. A flood crest passed the Cuntan hydrological station in Chongqing at 2 am Monday, raising water level by more than 2 meters to 174.83 meters.

On Saturday, a swollen river in Chongqing's Wuxi County overflowed and washed away five cars at a car park in the county seat. No casualties were reported.

The rain stopped Sunday night and most parts of Sichuan and Chongqing had sunny weather Monday. Repair work continued to restore traffic and power supplies in the worst-hit areas.