Thirty-seven people have been killed and 14 are missing following fierce
rainstorms that hit southwest China's Chongqing municipality, the Ministry of
Civil Affairs reported today.
More than 6.13 million people were affected by the rainstorms, and 28,6200
people were evacuated, according to the ministry.
More than 29,500 houses were destroyed, and 183,000 hectares of crops were
damaged, with direct economic losses exceeding 2.4 billion yuan (315 million
U.S. dollars), said the ministry.
The rainfall in Chongqing has began to ease and the municipal government has
allocated 10 million yuan (1.31 million U.S. dollars) to disaster relief
efforts.
By Wednesday, the rain had triggered landslides in 29 counties and districts
in Chongqing.
Earlier reports quoted the Chongqing weather bureau as saying that the city
itself received 266.6 mm of rainfall from Monday night to Tuesday afternoon, the
largest volume since records began in 1892.
The previous record was set on July 21, 1996, when Chongqing received 206.1
mm of rainfall, it said.
