Fifteen killed, three missing as heavy rains lash China’s Shanxi province

Continuous rainfall has affected nearly 1.76 million residents in 76 county-level regions across the province, and 1,20,100 people have been relocated.

October 12, 2021 04:32 pm | Updated 04:32 pm IST - Beijing:

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, an aerial photo shows rescuers fortifying a temporary dyke built to hold back floodwaters at the Lianbo Village in Hejin City, northern China’s Shanxi Province, on October 10.

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, an aerial photo shows rescuers fortifying a temporary dyke built to hold back floodwaters at the Lianbo Village in Hejin City, northern China’s Shanxi Province, on October 10.

At least 15 people have been killed and three others went missing in continuous rainstorms that hit north China’s Shanxi Province, which also displaced over 1.20 lakh people, local government said on Tuesday.

From October 2 to 7, Shanxi experienced the strongest autumn flood on record. Continuous rainfall has affected nearly 1.76 million residents in 76 county-level regions across the province, and 1,20,100 people have been relocated .

About 2,38,460 hectares of crops have been damaged and 37,700 houses collapsed or seriously damaged, causing direct economic losses to the tune of 5.03 billion yuan ($780 million), state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The largely arid province, Shanxi, has reported more than five times its usual rainfall since the start of the month, resulting in the destruction of dams and rail lines, reports said.

Shanxi, a major coal producer, has also shut 60 coal mines, adding to concerns over supplies of the fuel as China struggles with power cuts.

Till Monday, the disaster had caused the suspension of 530 high-voltage lines of 10kv and above, and 3,32,700 households had lost power, reports said.

Over 6,021km of roads were also damaged, resulting in the interruption of 32 sections of expressways, 72 highway sections and 3,238 rural road sections.

As of Monday, 30 blocked sections of expressways across the province had resumed traffic, while 19 sections and 2,800 sections of highways and rural roads were reopened.

The power supply department dispatched a total of 12,948 personnel and 3,210 vehicles to repair the damaged facilities.

Now over 95% of households that had lost power have resumed power supply, reports said.

The provincial authorities have earmarked 50 million yuan (about $7.8 million) to support flood control and relief measures.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.