13 dead, 13 missing in China rain, landslides

CHANGSHA/NANCHANG - Thirteen people were confirmed dead and 13 others remain missing after heavy rain caused flash floods and landslides in east China's Jiangxi Province, south China's Hunan, Guizhou, Guangdong provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

As of 6 p.m. on Wednesday, floods had left three people dead in Jiangxi, according to the provincial civil affairs department. So far, 21,000 people in the province have been relocated to safer places and another 10,000 people are in dire need of assistance.

In Hunan, continuous rain resulted in swollen rivers, landslides and mud-rock flows. Three people died in Hengshan County, according to the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters on Wednesday.

Three residents of Xiangtan County were reported missing after their home was buried by a landslide around 7 a.m. Wednesday, while in Longhui County one person is also missing. About 530 houses collapsed, and 11,900 people were evacuated, said the headquarters.

A reservoir with capacity of more than 70,000 cubic meters in Zhuzhou, Hunan Province, was reported to be leaking on Wednesday morning. As of Wednesday evening, workers were still at the site, trying to bring the situation under control. More than 1,400 people living downstream have been evacuated, said the local flood control office.

In Guangxi, one person was killed when a house collapsed in torrential rain, said the regional civil affairs department on Wednesday. Two unaccounted for people were swept away by floods while another was buried by a landslide.

The rain and ensuing disasters also destroyed 754 houses, seriously damaged another 408, ruined 20,200 hectares of crops, forced the evacuation of 5,900 people and inflicted a direct economic loss estimated at 150 million yuan (about 22.8 million U.S. dollars).

In Jinping County in Guizhou, five people have died and four are still missing, according to the county's publicity office.

Heavy rain pounded the county from Tuesday night until early Wednesday, with 202 millimeters of precipitation recorded in some areas. Traffic, power and telecommunications were all disrupted and homes destroyed.

Around 10,000 Guizhou residents have been displaced. The homes of 125 families have been destroyed and 300 more have been seriously damaged, said a statement from the provincial civil affairs department.

It is estimated that the rain has caused direct economic losses of 127 million yuan (about 19 million U.S. dollars).

In Guangdong, a female climber died and nearly 300 rescuers are searching for three members of her group who were swept away by a flash flood on Tianchi Mountain at around 2:30 p.m., according to the publicity office of Qujiang District, Shaoguan city.