Six dead, four missing as downpours ravage Guangdong

Source: Xinhua  |   2008-6-14  |     ONLINE EDITION

SIX people died and four were missing after rainstorms devastated part of south China's Guangdong Province and triggered the biggest flood of a river in nearly half a century, government sources said today.

From 7pm yesterday to 7am today, 103 rainfall monitoring sites across the province reported precipitations of more than 100 millimeters, with the biggest of 269 mm in Duanfen Town in Jiangmen City, the Guangdong Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said.

The deaths included four in Shenzhen and two in Shaoguan. The missing included two in Heyuan and one in Qingyuan and Shaoguan each, it said.

Some 100,000 residents in Lechang City were evacuated after the city seat was flooded by local swollen Wujiang River. The river's Lechang stretch saw a flood crest of 91.12 meters, which was 3.92 meters higher than the alert level at midnight today.
The river's water level has begun to fall slowly.

At 7am today, the Xijiang River in Guangdong also surpassed alert levels in many sections, according to the headquarters.