Thousands Trapped By China Floods As Death Toll Hits 105 With 83 Missing

by Martin Parry
BEIJING, Sept 7 (AFP) - Rescuers were battling Tuesday to reach thousands of people trapped by floods and mudslides in southwest China as the death toll from some of the worst storms in years rose to 105 with another 83 missing.
"We now have at least 72 dead in Sichuan province. Among them 46 are in Dazhou city," an official surnamed Liu at the Sichuan disaster relief bureau told AFP.
"Fifty people are still missing throughout Sichuan," she added.
Dazhou, in the northeast of the province, has been worst hit by the torrential rains that have triggered widespread landslides and flooding, stranding thousands of people.
Neighbouring Chongqing municipality has also been pummeled by the weather.
"By late yesterday there were 33 dead and 33 missing," Chongqing disaster relief office vice director He Lingyun told AFP, adding that 243 people were injured.
Heavy rain has been pounding the area since last Thursday but eased Tuesday as rescue teams took to boats to try and reach people cut off by floods and torrents of mud.
Provincial and municipal officials were also working to resume water and power supply and restore transportation and telecommunication facilities.
"There have been a lot of heavy mud slides and landslides. It is a serious situation in some counties," said Sichuan's Liu.
"In Xuanhan county in Dazhou city there are around 3,000 people trapped by mudslides. In that city around 10,000 are trapped altogether. Local officials and troops are trying to evacuate people living in dangerous places."
The rains have caused cave-ins on urban roads and destroyed highways out of the city, which has been drenched by 360 millimetres (14.4 inches) of rain.
"It is still raining but it is light. The weather is better," she said.
Disaster relief officials said more than 450,000 people have been evacuated from the storms, which have damaged or destroyed 127,000 homes and 400 bridges, and washed away at least 720 kilometres (446 miles) of roads.
Thousands of hectares of farmland have also been ruined.
"It is still raining but it's not heavy, We don't expect any more serious disasters. In many places the water levels are declining," said He from Chongqing.
"We have 30 rescue boats operating trying to reach people trapped by floods."
Like Sichuan, landslides triggered by torrents of water gushing down mountainsides were also widespread in Chongqing.
"For example, in Yunyang county there have been 23 landslides and we are still gathering more information from other countries and districts," said He.
"It's difficult to forecast what will happen now, whether there will be more casualties."
Kai district in Chongqing has borne the brunt of the atrocious weather with municipal mayor Wang Hongju saying many water conservancy facilities had been damaged and 84 schools were flooded, affecting 40,000 students.
"All the injured have received timely and effective treatment and they were out of danger now," Shu Ya, director of the county's health department, was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
He said medical teams had been rushed to the flooded areas to minimise the chances of disease.
The central government has announced 40 million yuan (4.8 million dollars) in urgent aid for people "who have trouble meeting basic needs" in the rain-hit regions, according to state television.