Forty-eight people were killed by rainstorms and floods caused
by Typhoon Bilis across China after it landed, government sources
said on Sunday.
Three more deaths were confirmed in Leiyang of the worst-hit
south China's Hunan Province, after torrential rain started at the
dawn of Saturday.
As of 8 AM Sunday, maximum rainfall in the city had reached 450
millimeter. The heavy rain is still going on.
Rescuers have evacuated 52,000 people, but nearly 5,000 others
are still stranded by flood.
At least 2.3 million people in Hunan have been affected by the
rainstorm and floods. About 31,400 houses were toppled down and
36,630 hectares of farmland were spoiled.
Death toll in south China's Guangdong Province has risen to nine
with 13 others missing, as Typhoon Bilis incurred downpour and
landslide in the southeast part of the province.
At least 6,500 people have been evacuated to safe places, while
another 12,000 are still trapped.
In the Lechang city, where the urban areas have been flooded and
average depth of water has reached 3 meters, 1,663 prisoners from
the Beijiang Prison have been transferred to safer places on a
hill.
The Beijing-Guangzhou Railway was cut off by the flood and a
train carrying over 1,000 passengers started from Guangzhou were
intercepted in Lechang at 10 PM Saturday. The passengers have all
been sent to catch trains in nearby cities.
Stations in Hunan along the Beijing-Guangzhou line are crowded
with people. In the railway station of Changsha, capital city of
Hunan, at least 5,000 passengers are kept waiting.
Local meteorological departments said there will still be heavy
rains or rainstorms in Guangdong in the coming days.
After it landed in southeast China's Fujian Province at 12:50 PM
on Friday, Bilis also affected more than 2.4 million people in
Fujian and Zhejiang Provinces in east China and caused huge
economic losses.
Officials with the Fujian Flood Prevention Office are warning
local people of continuing heavy rain and potential flood,
especially in central and southern parts of the province.
(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2006)
