'Once a Century' Floods Kill 161 in China
Date: 08-Sep-04
Country: CHINA
The Yangtze River near the Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydro-electric project in the world lying to the east of the flood-disaster zone, was expecting the largest flood peak in more than 100 years after continuous rain in the river's upper reaches, Xinhua news agency said.
Most of the deaths in Sichuan province and Chongqing to the east were caused by landslides, fast-moving mud-and-rock flows and flash floods sweeping through mountain valleys from Thursday to Monday, Xinhua said.
"The casualty information was delayed because communication facilities were severely damaged in the mountain areas," it said.
In some areas the flood water has been deep enough to submerge four-story buildings. Rescue workers are delivering supplies of food and medicine by boat.
The Sichuan provincial disaster relief office said it had confirmed 89 people dead and 41 missing. In Chongqing, the death toll had jumped to 72, 23 missing and more than 2,300 injured.
"This is the most severe natural disaster since Typhoon Rananim," which killed 164 people in eastern Zhejiang province in August, said Zhang Zhitong, deputy director of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.
In the city of Dazhou in Sichuan, more than 6,000 people were stranded in their homes, surrounded by water.
Xinhua described the floods as "a catastrophe which is not likely to happen in a century."
Thousands of police are helping with rescue work. One 19-year-old policeman drowned while evacuating villagers in Chongqing, Xinhua said.
In the county seat of Kaixian, floodwaters had receded and teams of medical workers had started a disinfection drive. Health workers were on the alert for any possible epidemic outbreaks.
"Residents are busy cleaning their houses and the trash left in the streets," Xinhua said.
Insurance companies had begun offering compensation for losses of the insured and "those private businessmen who have not bought property insurance can enjoy a series of preferential policies, including tax reduction or exemption," Cheng Yuanhui, the acting chief of Kaixian County, was quoted as saying.
Central Hubei province had put all departments on flood alert, increased patrols along the dams of the Yangtze and reinforcing reservoirs.
"The Three Gorges Dam areas along the Yangtze River will be challenged on Wednesday by the largest flood peak since 1998 after continuous torrential rains in the upper reaches," Xinhua said.
Engineers blocked the Yangtze at the Three Gorges Dam in June last year, filling the reservoir for a $25 billion project that is a point of national pride in a country desperate for power but which critics fear will become an environmental nightmare.
The dam's builders have long said it would also control flooding.
At least 412,000 hectares (1 million acres) of crops have been destroyed with total economic losses put at more than 3.9 billion yuan ($470 million).
An earthquake in northwest Gansu province measuring five on the Richter scale injured seven people yesterday and destroyed some buildings, a local government official said. No one was killed.
