China storm toll jumps to 482
Pastor Dale Morgan
Friday July 21, 10:26 PM
*China storm toll jumps to 482*
China's official death toll from rainstorms and flooding triggered by
Tropical Storm Bilis has spiked dramatically to 482, state media has said.
The sudden rise from 228 came after authorities revised the number of
deaths in the central province of Hunan to 346, compared with 92
previously, the Xinhua news agency reported.
There was no immediate explanation for the sudden increase in Hunan's
death toll, and no immediate claim of a cover-up.
However, the Ministry of Civil Affairs issued an urgent notice warning
local governments to be honest about disaster tolls.
"Data related to natural disasters should absolute not be covered up,"
the notice said. "If cover-ups do happen, local governments should hold
the responsible people to account."
The Hunan figure could yet rise significantly, as provincial authorities
warned 89 people were still missing and unaccounted for.
A total of 33 counties and six cities across Hunan have been hit by
rainstorms, floods, landslides and mudflows, affecting 7.3 million
people. The province has evacuated 800,000 people from dangerous places.
The Hunan city of Zixing was unusually heavily hit, with 197 dead and 69
missing, according to Xinhua.
There was no immediate explanation for the extremely large toll in
Zixing, although the area appears to have a somewhat exposed geography.
The city is located next to a major river, Dongjiang, as well as the
Dongjiang reservoir.
Tropical Storm Bilis, which also claimed lives in the Philippines and
Taiwan, has left a path of death and destruction since making landfall
in China a week ago.
Preliminary statistics showed 63 were confirmed dead in the southern
province of Guangdong, along with 30 in the southern region of Guangxi,
and 43 in southeastern Fujian province, according to Xinhua.
Nationwide, the heavy rains and floods have caused 212,000 houses to
collapse and damaged another 287,000, while forcing the evacuation of
nearly three million.
Heavy rain and severe floods have also destroyed sections of many
highways and railways in southern China.
China's flood season from June to August usually sees overflowing rivers
and mountain torrents, often causing deadly landslides.
By Wednesday the tropical storm was dying down and moving to Guizhou and
Yunnan provinces in the southwest.
More typhoons or tropical rainstorms are expected to hit China this
year, partly due to the warm ocean current in the northwestern Pacific
and high temperatures in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, meteorologists have
warned.