Key points
- The water level in a county seat has fallen below warning level
- Efforts are focused on dredging and draining water: Local officials
- Over 80,000 people were driven from their homes this week
ISLAMABAD: Six people have died from floods inundating China’s Guizhou province, official media said Thursday, after more than 80,000 people were driven from their homes this week.
China’s Xinhua news agency cited local flood control authorities as saying, “ As of 11 a.m. Thursday, six people have died due to severe flooding in Rongjiang County, southwest China’s Guizhou Province”.
Currently, the water level in the county seat has fallen below the warning level. Efforts are focused on dredging, draining water, preventing epidemics, disinfecting affected areas, initiating post-disaster recovery, and searching for trapped individuals, according to Xinhua.
Highest-level emergency
Deluges in Guizhou — classified as a southwestern province by the Chinese government — have prompted authorities to activate the highest-level emergency flood response, evacuating about 80,900 people by Tuesday.
On Thursday state broadcaster CCTV reported “exceptionally large floods” had swept through in Guizhou’s Rongjiang county since Tuesday.
“As of 11 am on Thursday… six people have unfortunately lost their lives,” the report said, citing the local authorities.
Traffic obstruction
“Many low-lying areas in the county were flooded, and the infrastructure of some towns was seriously damaged, resulting in traffic obstruction, communications blackouts, and some people being trapped,” according to the broadcaster.
This week, authorities issued the second-highest heat warning for the capital Beijing on one of its hottest days of the year so far, AFP reported.
And tens of thousands of people were evacuated last week in Hunan province — neighbouring Guizhou — due to heavy rain.
