2016年CRI 42 dead, 74 missing in central, north China storms

 

Northeast China's Liaoning experienced its strongest rainfall of the year on Thursday.

Average precipitation in the province reached 69 mm as of 3 p.m. Thursday.

A weather station in Huludao City in western Liaoning recorded 395 mm of rain, the highest ever since records began there.

"The maximum precipitation of 395 mm was reported in Mingshui town in Suizhong County. It's the highest ever recorded since the city was established in 1951."

Rain died away in Huludao by the evening after waterlogging many urban areas and submerging vehicles.

According to the local flood control office, the rain has forced the evacuation of 126,000 people across the province as of Thursday night. Thirty reservoirs are operating over capacity.

The provincial¹ weather bureau has issued three red alerts for rain.

Cities including Benxi, Dandong, Anshan and Fushun in the eastern part of the province are expected to see heavy storms.

Meanwhile, rainstorms since Wednesday have caused severe disruptions across north and central China, causing casualties, traffic chaos² and the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people.

Torrential rain in Hebei Province has left 30 people dead and 68 missing, forcing over 160,000 people to leave their homes.

The provincial civil affairs department has received reports of floods and landslides³ damaging close to 48,000 houses and more than 350,000 hectares of crops, causing traffic chaos, power outages and wreaking⁴ havoc⁵ with communications.

As of Thursday noon, direct economic losses from the rain-triggered disaster amounted to over 4.7 billion yuan.

Relief supplies including tents, quilts and clothing have been distributed in the worst-hit cities including Handan, Xingtai and the provincial capital of Shijiazhuang.

In neighboring Henan Province, 12 people were confirmed dead with six unaccounted for, with forced evacuation of 105,000 people.

More than 2,000 homes were flattened⁶ and 20,000 hectares of crops were damaged.

The extreme weather also caused two dikes to collapse⁷ in the city of Anyang. The repair work is still underway.

The National Commission for Disaster Relief and the Ministry⁸ of Civil Affairs have sent staff to assist the relief work there.

However, Cheng Xiaotao with China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, suggests it may be only a start.

"The rain season in northern China often begins in late July and ends after early August. This round of heavy rainfall is just like prelude⁹ of this year's wet season in China's northern, northeastern and northwestern parts."

The expert urges local authorities to keep on high alert and prepare for massive rainfalls and floods as it's hard to forecast where or when it will take place.

For CRI, this is Liu Mohan

1 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

2 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

3 landslides   

山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数

参考例句：

• Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
• The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。

4 wreaking   

诉诸（武力），施行（暴力），发（脾气）( wreak的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Coal mining is a messy business, often wreaking terrible environmental damage nearby. 采矿是肮脏的行业，往往会严重破坏周边环境。
• The floods are wreaking havoc in low-lying areas. 洪水正在地势低洼地区肆虐。

5 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

6 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

7 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 prelude   

n.序言，前兆，序曲

参考例句：

• The prelude to the musical composition is very long.这首乐曲的序曲很长。
• The German invasion of Poland was a prelude to World War II.德国入侵波兰是第二次世界大战的序幕。