China flood death toll nears 1,000

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Asia-Pacfic

Thursday, 29 July 2010 11:35

By Agencies

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China's worst flooding in more than a decade has killed nearly 1,000 people across the country and stranded tens of thousands in the northeast without power.

The state-run flood control office said 968 people have been killed since the rainy beginning of the year and 507 others are missing.

More heavy rains were expected for the southeast, southwest and northeast parts of the country through Thursday.

About 30,000 residents in Kouqian town were trapped in their homes after torrential rains drenched the northeastern province of Jilin on Wednesday, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Water began flooding the town after the nearby Xingshan Reservoir and the Wende and Songhua rivers overflowed. Rescuers were delivering supplies by boat and moving people to higher ground.

In Jilin city in Jilin province, workers were busy recovering thousands of barrels of chemicals that had tumbled into the Songhua River after a flood swept through a local factory.

Reservoirs filling up

Flooding has hit areas all over China. A total of 875,000 homes have collapsed and almost 10 million people have been evacuated, according to Xinhua.

The Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydroelectric project, has reached 90 per cent of its full capacity.

Thousands of workers have sandbagged riverbanks and checked reservoirs in preparation for potential floods expected to flow from the swollen Yangtze and Han rivers, an official with the Yangtze Water Resources Commission, said.

"Right now, the Han river in Hubei province is on the verge breaching warning levels," the official, who gave his name as Zhang, said.

The Han is expected to rise this week to its highest level in two decades.

Workers were prepared to blast holes in the river's embankment to divert flood waters into a low-lying area of farms and fish ponds, Xinhua said.