An aerial view shows that roads and fields are flooded in Xingtai, Hebei Province, China, July 21, 2016. Precipitation in many cities including Handan, Xingtai and Shijiazhuang reached 630 mm.
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Torrential rains that swept through China this week have left at least 112 people dead and 91 others missing, various provincial governments reported on Saturday.
Local authorities have evacuated almost 3.10 lakh people due to rainstorms this week that have flattened homes and caused huge economic losses.
More than 52,000 houses collapsed and an additional 161,000 were damaged, according to the Civil Affairs Department. Estimated losses from the floods are over $2 billion.
Northern China has dealt with flooding during the summer monsoon season before, but this year’s rain was one of the heaviest.
“The village chief informed us about the flood situation around 2 a.m. that day, but the floodwaters had nearly arrived by that time”, said a villager who would only give his surname, Zhang, when reached by phone on Sunday.
“We want the government to tell us the truth, including the death toll in our village”, Zhang said. “But our daughter and son were washed away and their bodies were just found”, he said.
In the village of Renma, villager Ren Jingmin was clearing his home.
“Power went out before the village’s loudspeaker finished broadcasting”. 15 people were killed and eight were missing from that province.
Last week also saw super Typhoon Nepartak killing dozens of people and damaging thousands of homes in Fujian province.
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The local government has revealed that around 8.6 million people have been directly affected by incessant rainfall and flooding.
