As of Saturday afternoon, rainstorms had left 105 dead and 104 missing in Hebei, with almost 310,000 people relocated and more than 52,000 homes collapsed, the province’s civil affairs bureau said on an official social media account.
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At least 105 people have been killed and 104 are still missing in the province, according to the agency.
As many as 225 people have been killed or missing in heavy torrential rain and floods in China as thousands of angry residents took to streets over late disaster warning and ineffective rescue efforts.
Almost 90,000 people have been evacuated in Hebei, they said.
It remained unclear whether the flood, which struck early Wednesday while villagers slept, was the result of the levee of a nearby river breaking, a release of water from a local reservoir, or a combination of the two, the Beijing News said. Hebei province suffered the most as almost 50,000 houses collapsed there while over eight million people were adversely affected, said Chinese state news agency Xinhua. At least 15 people have been killed and eight are missing there following violent thunderstorms.
Villagers in Hebei have accused the local government of not informing them ahead of time to evacuate when authorities chose to release floodwater from an upstream reservoir.
Floods and landslides triggered by rain storms have left 72 people dead and 78 others missing in North China’s Hebei province.
The online posts – accompanied by photos of drowned victims – also accused local officials of covering up the tragedy by lying about having no deaths in the area.
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The government said there is a direct economic loss of more than 20 billion yuan ($3 billion) due to 1.5 million hectares of damaged crops.
