(1) Floods Wreak Havoc in Eastern and Southern China, 284 Left Dead
[CND, 08/02/97] Weeks of fierce downpours and subsequent floodings have
killed 164 people in Guizhou province, 41 in Guangdong, 34 in Guangxi, at
least 20 in Zhejiang and at least 24 in Jiangxi, state media and
international aid workers reported on Friday. Zhejiang was battered by
two-meter high torrents, which, after washing away 100-km-long dykes,
destroyed 51,000 houses and damaged 230,000 others. Transportation,
telecommunications and electricity were disrupted, and 13,800 factories
were forced to stop or suspend production, Chinese officials said as
quoted by Jon Valfells, head of media service at the International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Total economic
losses caused by floodings had reached 4.72 billion yuan in the province.
The worst could lie ahead, and the Chinese Red Cross is bracing itself for
the forthcoming typhoons in Zhejiang, Reuters reported. (Tongbin LI, Ray
ZHANG)
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(2) Up to One Million Become Homeless in Southern China After Floods
[CND, 08/03/97] More than 500,000 houses were destroyed by floods in
southern provinces, leaving a homeless population that could well top one
million, AFP reports, quoting figures from Chinese Red Cross. International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies official Jon Valfells
said that some people were living on dikes or staying with friends and
relatives whose homes were less damaged. Valfells said that in isolated
areas, whole villages had been virtually washed away by flash floods. The
death toll in five southern provinces, which some reports have put at more
than 300, is way down on the 3,000 people who died in 1996 floods, however.
(Ximin TANG, Guochen WAN)
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