Floods in Hunan Province have left 47 dead and 50 missing, the Hunan Provincial Civil Affairs Department said yesterday.
The flooding has affected about 4.98 million people in eight cities including Shaoyang, Loudi, Yiyang, Huaihua and Tujia-Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Xiangxi. Many people are without electricity while transport and telecommunications services were also knocked out in some areas.
The rainstorms triggered mountain torrents in about 60 villages in six townships in Xinshao and Shaodong counties, affecting about 60,000 people. The torrents have destroyed 3,560 houses, according to the latest figures from Shaoyang Municipal Headquarters for Flood Control and Drought Relief.
The floods also affected more than 231,000 villagers in Xupu County in Huaihua, flushing away 1,300 heads of livestock and destroying 8,200 hectares of farmland and 37 dikes, according to Huaihua Municipal Headquarters for Flood Control and Drought Relief.
A 52,000-square-kilometer area received about 50 millimeters of rain in a 24-hour period. Tanjiawan in Xupu County received the most precipitation about 201 millimeters, a meteorologist reported.
The Hunan provincial government has earmarked 5 million yuan (US$602,000) to help the affected areas and the Ministry of Communications has pledged 4 million yuan for disaster relief.
Also yesterday, the Ministry of Health urged provincial and municipal authorities to tighten health prevention measures and control epidemics during the flood season.
Health authorities must present daily epidemic reports and zero-case reports to the ministry once an epidemic or a disease without a clear cause breaks out, the ministry said in a statement.
Meanwhile, medical emergency teams must respond quickly to stem any epidemic, it said.
The ministry also stressed food safety and the control of toxic chemicals in epidemic-hit areas to curb poisoning incidents. It stressed that disinfection and vaccination work were a crucial part of disease prevention.
The annual flood season began on Wednesday. The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters forecast heavy rainfall and possible floods in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the country's longest, in the next 90 days.
The flood control headquarters said the forecast for other major drainage areas was not favorable.