National observatory issues blue alert as heavy downpours continue to wreak havoc in vast stretches of the country.
Blue alert issued as storms wreak havoc across several provinces
China’s national observatory issued a blue alert for rainstorms as heavy downpours continued to wreak havoc in vast stretches of the country.
From yesterday morning to this morning, heavy rain and rainstorms were expected in the provinces of Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Hebei and Shandong, according to the National Meteorological Administration.
Some of these regions would see up to 70mm of hourly precipitation accompanied by thunderstorms and strong winds, it said.
The agency advised local authorities to remain alert for possible flooding, landslides and mudslides and recommended halting outdoor operations in hazardous areas.
China has a four-tier colour-coded weather warning system with red being the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
Since June, continuous downpours have lashed large parts of southern China and the waters of many rivers in the affected regions have exceeded warning levels.
The death toll from rainstorm in Mianning county in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture in Sichuan province rose to 12 and 10 people were reported missing, the county government information office said.
The storm started on Friday and continued until Saturday, wreaking havoc in many villages.
Dide Keyizi, a Yi resident of Damawu village in Yihai town, rode a tricycle with eight family members to flee the rain-caused flood.
He and his mother survived and his 11-year-old daughter was rescued by a neighbour after she clung to a cherry tree in the neighbour’s courtyard, according to Lu Zheng, party chief of Yihai.
But the other five family members were swept away by the water, he added.
As of press time yesterday, rescue personnel were searching Damawu for people who might be still trapped by the flood.
A team of 20 firefighters from the Liangshan prefecture team were carrying out the search operation with rescue dog and portable tools, said Yu Wuqiang, an official with the Mianning branch of the team. Caogu village in Yihai was one of the hardest hit by the rain-induced flood as many sections of the road were broken, houses had collapsed, telecommunication signals had been cut off and crops in the fields had been destroyed.
Search and rescue personnel paid a house call to each of more than 600 families in the village.
More than 3,000 people from the families were living in three centralised resettlement sites.