Four dead from typhoon Gaemi that flooded South China

BEIJING:

Torrential rain and flooding in China’s southern Hunan province killed four people and prompted the evacuation of thousands of residents, Chinese state media reported on Tuesday, as the remnants of the now-weakened typhoon Gaemi continued to batter the country.

The province has been hit particularly hard by several days of heavy rain that has breached major levees and dams and flooded large swathes of farmland, state media reported.

In Zixing County, nearly 90,000 people have been affected by the extreme weather that has damaged about 1,400 houses and led to the collapse of about 1,300 roads, the People’s Daily website reported. Many villages have also lost electricity.

Forecasters said the combination of a weather system from the typhoon, which has been downgraded, and a southwest monsoon has created conditions for heavy rain and high humidity, according to the Beijing News.

Over the past two days, rainfall has caused the Huangshui River to rise, breaching three embankments, Xinhua news agency reported. One of the dikes was successfully sealed on Monday.

The Juanshui flows into the Xiangjiang River, a major tributary of the Yangtze River, and flooding occurred in some areas, according to the People’s Daily.

On Sunday, 15 people were killed in a rain-triggered landslide that washed away houses in Hunan, state media reported. Heavy rains also hit several other provinces, which had issued warnings and imposed emergency planning.

More than 10,000 people have been affected by the floods in the eastern Sudanese city of Kassala.

China’s government met last week to discuss measures to combat flooding from heavy rains. China has already released at least 6.67 billion yuan ($918 million) in emergency funds, according to Reuters calculations.