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Over 100 dead or missing after floods devastate NE China province

Other News Materials 1 August 2010 16:23 (UTC +04:00)
Floods and rain-triggered landslides have left more than 100 people dead or missing in northeast China's Jilin Province over the last ten days, provincial civil affairs officials said Sunday
Over 100 dead or missing after floods devastate NE China province

Floods and rain-triggered landslides have left more than 100 people dead or missing in northeast China's Jilin Province over the last ten days, provincial civil affairs officials said Sunday, Xinhua reported.

In the hardest-hit areas, floods have cut roads, isolated villages and disrupted communications and water supplies.X   About 37,000 houses have collapsed and 125,000 others have been damaged while 592,000 residents have been evacuated.

The province's direct economic losses due to natural disasters in the last two months may reach 9.15 billion yuan.

"The flood is unprecedented. Its devastation is appalling," said Sun Jingyuan, a top official in Antu County, Korean Autonomous Prefecture of Yanbian, in southeast Jilin.

A flood washed away 70 houses in a village in Antu while 570 families were forced to leave their homes in a mountain valley after the area was submerged under 20-meter-deep floodwaters.

Soldiers managed to reach the isolated town of Liangjiang Saturday night to help 10,000 residents evacuate, Sun said.

Sun said the economic losses in Antu have topped 800 million yuan, equivalent to 5.7 times the county government's revenue last year, as of Sunday.

But the catastrophes are not over yet.

Weather authorities forecast heavy rains to fall until Aug. 4.

On Sunday, seven of 18 large dams in the province had water levels exceeding their danger levels.

Rainstorms pounded Baishan City and Tonghua City Sunday, with rainfall in the worst-affected areas reaching 66 milimeters.

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