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China Evacuates 127,000 People as Yalu River Floods (Update1)
2010-08-22 04:15:32.165 GMT
(Updates with provincial cities damaged in second
paragraph.)
By Bloomberg News
Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- China evacuated 127,000 residents in
the northeastern province of Liaoning as heavy rains caused the
Yalu River on the border with North Korea to flood.
The waters collapsed 3,000 houses and damaged 5,000 other
buildings in five cities of Liaoning province and losses have
reached 760 million yuan ($112 million), the Ministry of Civil
Affairs said in a statement. Four people are missing and as many
as 457,000 have been affected since Aug. 19.
The floods are the second largest caused by the Yalu
overflowing since 1949, China's official Xinhua News Agency
reported, citing Liaoning provincial flood control and drought
relief headquarters.
North Korea said its northwestern border city of Sinuiju
suffered "immense" damage. Kim Jong Il, the country's leader,
ordered military units to help rescue efforts in Sinuiju, the
state-run Korean Central News Agency said yesterday.
Dadong city in Liaoning has only limited water supplies in
most districts and some water isn't drinkable, the China News
Service reported today. Some communication links were cut off in
the city of more than 240 million people, it said.
Train services between Dandong and Shenyang, the provincial
capital, were suspended yesterday when railroad tracks were
inundated, Shenyang Railway Bureau said.
Government Efforts
China's flood control authority sent a team to Liaoning
yesterday and called for more efforts to cope with the rains,
prevent landslides and ensure the safety of reservoirs,
according to a statement posted on the website of the Office of
State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.
Local authorities are using helicopters and speedboats to
rescue people trapped by the waters, the People's Daily reported
on its website yesterday.
Dandong is across the river from North Korea's Sinuiju city,
about 26 kilometers (16 miles) from the mouth of the Yalu, which
creates the border between China and North Korea.
In North Korea, more than 5,150 people were rescued by
dozens of military airplanes and boats, KCNA reported yesterday.
The floods paralyzed traffic and forced villagers to stand on
rooftops of submerged low-rise buildings, the news agency said.
South Korea said today there aren't any plans to send aid
to North Korea. "Usually we wait for North Korea to request aid
first," Lee Jong Joo, deputy spokeswoman for South Korea's
Unification Ministry, said. "There hasn't been such a request
yet."
Washed Away
North Korea earlier this month said floods swept away homes,
damaged factories and about 14,850 hectares (36,700 acres) of
farmland was "submerged, buried or washed away." Rail links
were blocked, bridges destroyed and power equipment broken, KCNA
reported on Aug. 5.
More rain will hit China's northeastern, central and
southwestern regions in the next 24 hours, China's National
Meteorological Center said today in a statement at 8 a.m. local
time. The center issued an alert for provinces including
Liaoning, Gansu, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shandong, Jilin, Fujian,
Hainan, Yunnan and Tibet.
Thousands of people across China have died in mudslides and
floods this year as downpours inundated many regions of the
country.
Day of Mourning
China's Cabinet ordered a day of mourning on Aug. 14 for
people killed in a mudslide in Gansu province. The death toll
from that incident rose to 1,434 with a further 331 people
missing, Xinhua reported today, citing local authorities.
A mudslide in China's southwestern province of Yunnan
yesterday killed 23 people and left 69 missing, Xinhua said
today, citing Hou Xinrong, the vice head of Gongshan county.
Flooding triggered by heavy rains has killed three people
and left one missing in Sichuan province since yesterday, the
China News Service reported today, citing the provincial flood
control headquarters.
Authorities evacuated 23,843 people, while 810,000 others
have been affected by the disaster, it said. Economic losses
reached about 400 million yuan, the news service said.
For Related News and Information:
Top stories: TOP <GO>
China Weather Stories: TNI CHINA WEATHER <GO>
Stories on natural disasters in China: TNI CHINA NAT <GO>
China economic statistics: ECST CH <GO>
Most-read stories about China: MNI CHINA <GO>
--Huang Zhe, Frances Yoon. Editors: Paul Tighe, Jim McDonald
To contact the reporter on this story:
Huang Zhe in Beijing at +86-10-6649-7552
or zhuang37@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Paul Tighe at +612-9777-8626 or
ptighe@bloomberg.net
