Published on ShanghaiDaily.com (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/)
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200806/20080617/article_363525.htm
Pedestrians and motorists make their way through a flooded street in Liuzhou City in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region yesterday. Since June 7, the autonomous region and 11 provinces in southern China have been swept by continuous heavy rain, with some areas experiencing the heaviest falls in 100 years.
Pedestrians and motorists make their way through a flooded street in Liuzhou City in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region yesterday. Since June 7, the autonomous region and 11 provinces in southern China have been swept by continuous heavy rain, with some areas experiencing the heaviest falls in 100 years.
Landslides hit quake area as rain takes toll
Created: 2008-6-17 1:54:37
TENS of thousands of survivors of China's earthquake are moving to escape a threat from rain-triggered landslides, as floods ravage the nation's southern provinces.
The May 12 quake, centred in the southwest province of Sichuan, killed nearly 70,000 people and shattered slopes in the mountainous region, parts of which have since been hit by heavy rain.
More than 70,000 people were being evacuated as the threat of landslides increased in Wenchuan County, the epicenter of the devastated quake, the national television station CCTV reported yesterday.
More than 21,000 areas of Sichuan face potential landslides. Of those, 2,170 places are considered "very dangerous," said He Shiming, director of the land and resources bureau of the Aba region.
Even temporary shelters set up for victims made homeless by the earthquake are in jeopardy, He said.
Tao Jian, director of Aba's Meteorological Bureau, said that rain in the county has increased the possibility of landslides.
Aftershocks, both major and minor, have constantly caused shore collapses and mudslides on fragile slopes in Wenchuan, and houses already damaged have fallen in the wake of the tremors.
About 20,000 residents and students in Wenchuan had been evacuated, CCTV said. More than 50,000 people still in Wenchuan would be evacuated within five days, said Wu Zegang, Aba's Party chief.
China has suffered floods across its south that have killed at least 57 people and forced 1.27 million to move to safer ground in recent days, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Meanwhile, the national meteorological service warned that the 5,500-kilometer Yellow River flowing through the north might also see "quite large" floods this year.
The floods have been especially heavy in the southern province of Guangdong which is home to many export businesses.
By Sunday, at least 20 people in Guangdong had died in the floods, eight were missing, and more than 4,800 houses had collapsed. Close to 240,000 residents in the province were shifted to safer ground.
The province was facing the threat of its worst flooding in 50 years as two swollen rivers converged in the Pearl River Delta yesterday.
The danger of serious flooding is made worse by the pull from a full moon due tomorrow.
In Sichuan and areas nearby, prevention of secondary disasters was an "urgent task," the quake-relief headquarters of the State Council, or Cabinet, said yesterday.
"New geological disasters can happen at any time due to the long-lasting aftershocks and much stronger precipitation as the country's rivers enter the flooding season," the headquarters said after a meeting presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao.
Agencies/Shanghai Daily
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