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Floods, landslides kill 72 people in China

In the central province of Henan, 15 people died and eight went missing due to thunderstorms and howling winds which have forced 72,000 people to evacuate their homes.

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This summer, the country’s seen remarkably heavy rain.

Qiu Wenshuang, deputy mayor of Xingtai, said on Saturday that at least 25 people were killed and another 13 missing in the city, adding rescue operations and disaster relief have been initiated immediately after the flood.

People watch the flooded Jinsha River at a sightseeing platform of Tiger Leaping Gorge, in Diqing, Yunnan Province, China, July 15, 2016.

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.

The worst-hit Daxian Village of Xingtai City was nearly empty after a flash flood swamped it early Wednesday.

The northern province of Hebei was the worst hit. BBC reported that the residents have blamed local officials for failing to warn them of the severe weather in advance.

It was not clear why the local governments did not report news of the flooding and deaths sooner, but it is not unusual for Chinese officials to want to play down bad news. As many as 18,000 houses have been damaged there.

Chinese authorities have said they will provide funds for flood-hit areas.

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More than 1.5 million hectares of crops are said to have been damaged as a result of especially heavy rains and flooding in China this year, amounting to losses of more than $3bn (£2.3bn).

China floods