XI’AN/CHENGDU/BEIJING — Heavy rains have wreaked havoc across large parts of China, causing serious casualties, leaving dozens missing, forcing thousands to evacuate, and disrupting traffic.
Among the worst-hit areas is a rescue operation in southwest China’s Sichuan province, where more than 30 people are still missing after flash floods hit the village of Xinhua around 2:30 a. m. on Saturday, the local government said. The crisis disrupted traffic on roads and bridges and cut off communications in the region.
Meanwhile, more than 700 professional rescuers and more than 1,500 locals are searching for another 31 people missing after their cars plunged into a river due to flooding from a highway bridge that collapsed amid torrential rains in the province. from Shaanxi, in northwest China.
As of Saturday afternoon, 12 more people were found dead and 31 others were still missing, according to a news conference held in Zhashui County, Shangluo City, Shaanxi.
In addition, 12 other people were found dead and one user rescued, according to a press conference held on Saturday in Zhashui county, Shangluo city.
Zhao Jing, head of the Shangluo Party, said the storm caused a flash flood on the Jinqian River in Zhashui at around 8:40 p. m. on Friday, causing a 40-meter-long segment of the No. 2 bridge in Yanping village to collapse.
The 366-meter Jinqian River Bridge belongs to the Danfeng-Ningshan Expressway.
Zhao said that after the highway toll and video surveillance, as well as telephone investigations, rescuers concluded that a total of 17 cars and 8 trucks had sunk into the river.
Rescuers are still searching for 18 cars with 31 other people on board at a distance of 60 kilometers downstream from the collapse site, Zhao told reporters.
The search operation used drones and kayaks. The local government contacted the families of the victims and took steps to avoid secondary disasters, while also tracking geographical hazards and fighting flooding in the area.
Before the press conference, participants will observe a minute of silence in tribute to the victims.
The river flow has now been reduced to 130 cubic meters per second, and the water point had fallen more than three meters from the point at the time of the bridge collapse, creating conditions conducive to investigation and safety.
Zhao said six rounds of heavy downpours have hit the region since early July, amplifying the risk of flooding of five major rivers, and failures have been reported in seven counties and city districts. A total of 64,278 more people were affected. The local government relocated another 37,597 people for security reasons.
China’s Ministries of Finance and Emergency Management have allocated 260 million yuan ($36. 62 million) to local governments in their crisis relief efforts.
The National Flood and Drought Control Headquarters on Saturday introduced a Level IV emergency reaction in three provincial regions of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan, as the country continues to deal with severe flooding.
South China’s Hainan Province is on alert for a tropical depression that is expected to become a typhoon and hit its east coast on Sunday, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to the island province’s 3-day high. .
The local shipping and port government announced the cessation of ferry operations across the Qiongzhou Strait starting at 9 a. m. Sunday and ordered sailboats to shelter from the wind.
Elsewhere in northeastern China, the Heilongjiang provincial meteorological observatory on Saturday afternoon issued three red alerts (the dot) for heavy rains, as three cities hit by torrential rains were at risk of flooding. It will be affected by continuous rains for the next 3 hours, with accumulated rainfall of one hundred millimeters or more.