China is intensifying rescue and search efforts in its northwest Gansu Province after rain-triggered mountain torrents left 10 people dead and 33 others missing, according to officials at a press briefing Friday in Lanzhou City.
Torrential rain began pounding Yuzhong County of Lanzhou on Thursday evening, with the maximum precipitation reaching 220.2 mm by noon Friday.
"The torrential downpour in Yuzhong County has brought heavy rainfall to eight townships in the southern part of the county. The three meteorological stations of Xinglongshan, Chengguan and Xiaokangying reported record high daily precipitation since their establishment in 2002. Among them, the 15 hours of precipitation reported in Xinglongshan station equaled 56 percent of the station's annual average rainfall. It was a historically rare event in Yuzhong County and has brought extremely destructive results," said Tao Jianhong, deputy director of Gansu Provincial Meteorological Bureau.
The mountain torrents flooded farmlands, damaged houses and caused severe damages to roads, power supply, telecommunication and other facilities.
"We will restore telecommunications and transportation as soon as possible and intensify the efforts to repair power grid lines and mobile network base stations disrupted by the rain. We are striving to resume the power and telecommunications networks before August 10," said Pan Zhe, vice mayor of Lanzhou, the provincial capital city of Gansu Province.
A total of 9,828 people in Yuzhong County have been relocated to safe areas. More than 2,700 rescue personnel have been dispatched by provincial authorities, along with 980 vehicles and pieces of machinery, and 8,530 sets of emergency supplies for the search and rescue operations and to help the relocated residents.
Another 560 rescuers from China's National Fire and Rescue Administration have also been dispatched to Gansu to search for the people missing in the mountain torrents.
"We will intensify the search for missing people in wider areas, not letting go of any possible clues. We'll continue to take care of people's life at resettlement sites, provide enough daily necessities and ensure the environmental hygiene and food safety at these sites," said Ju Hongwen, an official of Gansu provincial emergency management department.
Rescue efforts intensified in Gansu after deadly mountain torrents
Rescue efforts intensified in Gansu after deadly mountain torrents
