Heavy rain triggers floods in southern China

By Yang Jian  |   2008-6-11  |     ONLINE EDITION

MORE heavy rain is expected in southern China in the next three days after storms have triggered floods and destroyed houses in Guangdong and Hubei, the national meteorological bureau said this morning.

Rain began to fall in Xinjiang, Tibet, Gansu and Qinghai today. The heavy showers will then move south, the China Meteorological Bureau said.

Rain was also forecast in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Anhui, Hunan and Jiangxi today and tomorrow. Thunderstorms and strong wind are expected in these regions on Friday, said the bureau.

However, no rain was forecast in the quake-hit areas of Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. The temperatures will climb above 30 degrees Celsius in quake-hit Mianyang, Deyang and Guangyuan.

Yesterday in Guangdong Province, a resident was killed in Xinyi City by a landslide that was triggered by rain that has fallen since Thursday.

The rainstorm destroyed 1,532 houses and flooded 87,473 hectares of farmland across the province. Seventeen highways were forced to close. A total of 258,875 kilometers of highway were destroyed. About 1.5 million homes were damaged.

In Hubei Province, four-straight days of rain have caused 41.7 million yuan (US$5.96 million) in losses. The province's meteorological bureau said it was the heaviest rainfall so far this year.

The bureau has issued a flood alert across the province.