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Floods displace thousands in southwest China

A woman walks in a flooded street after a heavy rain in Beijing, China, June 10, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Massive storms and heavy rains have caused flooding in southwest China, leaving thousands of people stranded and at least three individuals missing.

The rainstorm, which started on Friday, has caused a series of landslides in the Guizhou province, cutting off major roads and power supplies and destroying many houses.  

Among the three people missing is one village official who was washed away by flood waters while trying to rescue two fellow villagers trapped in their houses.

A search and rescue operation is currently underway to locate the missing people.

Jiuchao was the most severely affected with 134 millimeters of rainfall recorded. Li Shilin, a 70-year-old villager in Jiuchao, said the flood is the biggest he has ever seen.

“After I got out, I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t save anything. I tried to stop the water, but I couldn’t. I had to run myself. I must leave my house. Nothing was left, nothing," he said. 

This photo, taken on June 1, 2016, shows a man riding a bicycle through a flooded street in Wuhan, in central China. (By AFP)

Local authorities rushed to save stranded residents, with rescuers creating a human chain to combat the fast flowing torrents and using ropes to rescue 30 trapped residents.

Technicians were also dispatched to several affected sites to examine and repair damaged facilities.

Storms in south and east China have disrupted the lives of hundreds of thousands of people over the past two weeks, forcing many to be evacuated and causing extensive damage.

In early May, a landslide caused by heavy rain killed dozens of people at a construction site in China’s southeastern province of Fujian, burying them under mud and rocks.


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