Dharamsala, July 13 – 43 people have died since July 8 as torrential rains led to heavy flooding in several areas in China and Tibet.
China’s state run media said the flooding has resulted in the loss of 10.6 billion yuan (1.57 billion U.S. dollars), a figure that could not be verified. Meteorological authorities forecast heavy downpour in the next three days. Heavy rains will hit some regions in the provinces of Guizhou, Sichuan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, while heavy rain is also expected in Chongqing Municipality, the China Meteorological Administration said.
Southern Qinghai, eastern Inner Mongolia, eastern Liaoning, central Gansu and western Yunnan will also be subjected to heavy rains over the next three days.
Rain-triggered floods are affecting millions of people in regions along the Yangtze River, Xinhua reported.
Earlier on July 9, Xinhua reported that the Wenquan Reservoir of rural Golmud City, the origin station of the Railway built by China 4 years ago was on the verge of collapse due to rise in the water level beyond the reservoir’s capacity and leakages on its embankment. The Qinghai –Tibet Railway which is only 40 km from the reservoir might face a major threat if the reservoir collapsed.
