Torrential Rains Ravage China, U.S. Midwest

Torrential Rains Ravage China, U.S. Midwest. June. 16, 2008 05:54. orionha@donga.com kong@donga.com.

Torrential rains as much as 1,000mm (40 inches) have hit southern China, which had also experienced the worst snowfall in its history in the beginning of the year.

Xinhua News Agency said yesterday that an average 400mm of rainfall over the last three weeks has left 55 dead and seven missing in the provinces of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Hubei, Zhejiang, Anhui and Yunan, as well as the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Forty-five thousand homes were destroyed and 141,000 partly damaged, leaving 17.874 million people displaced and forcing another 1.274 million to evacuate.

The torrential rains also inundated 860,000 hectares of farmland. As a result, the direct economic loss incurred from the rain was an estimated 10.61 billion Chinese yuan, or almost 1.6 billion U.S. dollars.

Guangdong suffered the heaviest rain damage, as 18 people died in 17 of the province’s cities.

All public schools were forced to close in Shenzhen and Dongguan, a city which was submerged in water.

The rainfall is expected to exact further damage according to Chinese weather forecasters, who say torrential rain will hit the affected regions again through tomorrow.

In the United States, the Chicago Tribune said tornadoes and torrential rain that swept through the Midwest killed 15 people in Iowa and two in Indiana, with the death toll in the region now at 20.

The torrential rain has raised nine Iowa rivers to their highest levels in recorded history. Among them, the overflowing Cedar River forced 4,000 residents to evacuate.

The persisting rain has raised fear over what could be the Midwest’s worst flood in 15 years among residents near the Mississippi River, which connects northern Iowa and southern Missouri.