Society

Rain, floods kill 18 in C China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-10 11:10

WUHAN - A new round of rain and floods battered central China Thursday night and Friday, killing 18 and injuring more than 100 in Hubei province, the local government said.

Most of the deaths and injuries were incurred when floods toppled homes and destroyed embankments at local reservoirs and rivers, the local flood control and relief office said in a press release.

Related readings:  20 trapped as floods topple homes in Jiangxi  From drought to floods and mudslides in C China  Death toll climbs to 54 in China floods  Floods kill 24, force evacuation of 100,000

It said torrential rain hit Xianning City from 8 pm Thursday to 5 am, inundating three counties including Chibi, Tongcheng and Chongyang.

In Tongcheng county, precipitation topped 300 mm within four hours, a record volume in 200 years, it said.

The entire county was drowned by Friday morning. In the low-lying areas, flood water was more than 2 meters deep. Traffic was paralyzed in the county seat, where flood water measured 60 cm to 90 cm deep on average.

Flood has cut off power supplies and telecommunication in Tongcheng County, and inundated embankment at a reservoir, forcing more than 300 people in the downstream to evacuate.

In Chibi, 110,000 people were evacuated to safety after floods toppled homes and destroyed embankments.

Further damages are under investigation.