New floods hit China

Press, 20 August 1981, Page 7

New floods hit China

NZPA-Reuter Peking Torrential rainstorms, have caused fresh flooding and casualties in China’s Sichuan province, where clean-iip tasks are still being carried out after floods last month in which at least 753 people died, the “People’s Daily" has said. In a front-page report the official newspaper said the new floods had killed at least 15 people, injured more than 100. and destroyed houses containing more than 5000 rooms. Road and rail links, including the important railway" between Chengdu. Sichuan’s capital, and Kunming in 'neighbouring Yunnan province, have been cut, along with electricity and water

supplies in some areas. The floods were triggered by up to 400 mm of rain that fell between August 13 and 17 in the upper reaches of the Yangste River.. Water washing down from

mountains had swollen three tributaries of the Yangtse, causing them to overflow over vast areas, the report said- " : Sichuan is China’s most populous province with about IOCt million people. It is also a major food-producing area, known as China’s rice-bowl. The Sichuan Communist Party chief.- Tan Qilong, blamed the flooding on the cutting down of the province's once extensive forests, which had helped to absorb the huge quantities of rain that fell during summer storms, the “People's Daily," said. Last month’s. downpours sent torrents of water down the Yangtse. threatening cities and low-lying farmland downstream.

But further disaster was narrowly averted. The flood crest was either diverted into other waterways or contained by dykes. A huge new hydro-electric project at Gezhouba survived intact.