Podcast
Further storms forecast as death toll continues to climb
Updated: 2010-06-17 11:52
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Flooding and landslides triggered by recent heavy rains have killed at least 42 people as of Wednesday in the worst hit provinces like Guangxi, Fujian and Sichuan, while 49 others are still missing.
Storms are forecast to continue to sweep across most parts of South China over the next 10 days, with some areas due to receive 250mm of rain, the China Meteorological Administration said on Wednesday.
The national weather forecaster said rainstorms will also hit Guizhou, Sichuan, Fujian and Guangdong the following week.
The National Meteorological Center issued a yellow alert on Wednesday morning for heavy rain across parts of China.
A statement on the center's website urges officials in several provinces, including Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangdong, to prepare for "possible floods and geological hazards".
Guangxi flood control and drought relief headquarters said on Wednesday that, as of Tuesday, the death toll from the recent spell of bad weather had climbed to 10 in the province, with 15 missing, and direct economic losses of nearly 400 million yuan ($58.8 million). The rain had also damaged 61 roads, ruined 66 dams and destroyed 1,170 houses.
Rescue workers recovered another three bodies from a landslide in Shuangshang village in Guangxi on Wednesday. Three others remain unaccounted for, Xinhua News Agency reported.
In Fujian, heavy rain since Sunday triggered landslides and mudslides around Nanping, which caused two buses with 31 people on board to plunge into a flooded river.
Huang Xinmin, deputy secretary with the Nanping government, said seven passengers were rescued, six people were confirmed dead and 18 were missing.
In Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Sichuan province, a landslide caused by heavy rain on Tuesday claimed 23 lives and injured seven.
According to the emergency office in Garze, 34 workers were sleeping in sheds at the construction site of the Jinping Power Station in Pengta township in Kangding when the landslide occurred and only four managed to escape.
As of Tuesday night, the heavy rain that has hit most of South China since Sunday has affected 639,000 people in Guangxi, Sichuan and Fujian and damaged 38,100 hectares of farmland, with direct economic losses of 830 million yuan, according to reports from the civil affairs bureaus in Guangxi, Sichuan and Fujian.
Questions:
1 How many people have died in recent storms in China?
2 What are the worst-hit provinces?
3 What is the damage in Guangxi?
Answers:
1. Flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rains have killed at least 42 people as of Wednesday.
2. Guangxi, Fujian and Sichuan.
3. The death toll climbed to 10 in the province, with 15 missing, and direct economic losses of nearly 400 million yuan ($58.8 million). The rain had also damaged 61 roads, ruined 66 dams and destroyed 1,170 houses.
（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）
About the broadcaster:
Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is fluent in Korean and has a 2-year-old son.