Society

$4.5 million collected to aid storm-hit Chongqing

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-07 22:21

BEIJING - The central government has allocated 31 million yuan ($4.54 million) in relief funds for southwestern Chongqing Municipality, where the death toll from storm and gales stood at 31.

The funds, jointly issued by the Finance and Civil Affairs ministries, will be used for resettlement and home reconstruction, the civil affairs ministry said Friday on its website.

As of 4 pm Friday, the gales, torrential rain and hail that lashed the city since May 3 had left 31 people dead and one missing, with more than 85,000 people relocated, the ministry's figures showed.

More than 8,000 houses collapsed and over 60,000 houses were damaged in the region due to the extreme weather.

The ministry and the State Disaster Relief Commission also sent emergency teams to the storm-hit areas to oversee relief work in central China's Hunan Province where Wednesday's rain has left 10 people dead and three missing as of 1 pm Friday.

The ministry issued a grade IV emergency response alert Friday afternoon, requiring daily damage reports, and provision of relief funds and materials within 48 hours.

Casualties from the violent storm were also reported in neighboring Jiangxi, Guizhou and Guangdong provinces after rain triggered landslides.