Heavy Rain and Flooding in China: 7 Dead and 3 Missing

(CTN News) – Typhoon Gaemi caused flooding and mudslides in China and North Korea, resulting in scores of deaths.

According to reports early Tuesday, seven more individuals were added to the casualty list from the previous day, when a mudslide killed at least 15 people. The development takes the total number of reported deaths since Sunday to 22.

According to Xinhua News Agency, four bodies were discovered in Zixing City. According to state broadcaster CCTV, three other missing people’s bodies were discovered in a nearby village.

Heavy rains have been raining on Hunan for days as Tropical Storm Gaemi advanced inland after making landfall as a typhoon in the nearby Fujian province on China’s coast. Last week, a powerful typhoon struck Taiwan.

All of the deaths in China have occurred in Hunan province. Three additional persons were reported missing on Tuesday.

According to Xinhua, the rains have damaged almost 1,000 homes, forced the evacuation of more than 11,000 people, and caused 1,345 road collapses in Zixing. Some parts of the city saw record rainfall, with some locations collecting 645mm (25 inches) in just 24 hours.

At the same time, approximately 4,000 people were evacuated across the province due to a dam failure.

The flooding follow a landslip in Hunan on Sunday that devastated a guesthouse and killed 15 people.

China is having a summer of extraordinary weather. Heavy rains are impacting large areas of the country, while other regions are experiencing extreme heatwaves.

On Monday, China’s National Meteorological Centre issued an orange notice, the second-highest level, for rainstorms in much of the country’s south, southwest, and centre, as well as Beijing, Hebei province, and Tianjin in the north.

Major dams have been burst by the deluge, flooding large areas of agricultural land. CCTV stated that the Ministry of Finance has set aside 238 million yuan ($33 million) for disaster prevention and agricultural help.

Weather scientists attribute the devastation to a combination of the southwest monsoon and Gaemi.

Storms have also hit northeastern China and North Korea, raising water levels in the Yalu River that separates the two countries. Severe flooding has been recorded in China’s border city of Dandong as well as in North Korea.