At least 21 people have died and six are missing, according to local authorities, who blame a flash flood and landslip that happened on the outskirts of the northwest Chinese city of Xi’an.
The Xi’an City Emergency Management Bureau reports that 900 residences experienced power outages as a result of the natural catastrophe, which took place in a mountain town on Friday. The incident also reportedly caused damage to roads, bridges, and communication equipment.
Due to recent record high temperatures and disastrous flooding in parts of China, experts link extreme weather events around the world to climate change.
Following the landslip and flash flood, about 1,000 rescuers were sent to Xi’an’s Weiziping village. As of Sunday evening, 186 people had been rescued, and relief operations were still in progress. In addition, two homes were demolished.
Two structures were destroyed by a tremendous flow of mud and debris that cascaded down the hillside on Friday in the late afternoon, according to a restaurant owner in the town who spoke to the state-run media site Cover News.
He was cited as adding, “Both houses were gone, and the people went missing too.”
According to Cover News, the two demolished residences were used as restaurants.
People travel to the mountains to escape the summer heat in Xi’an. The main source of income in our hamlet is the summertime operation of farm eateries, according to a second local who spoke to Cover News.
Following significant floods on the other side of the nation in northeastern China, which was pummelling by unprecedented rainfall from local typhoons starting late last month, the calamity occurred.
According to local authorities, flooding claimed the lives of at least 29 individuals in the province of Hebei and 33 people in Beijing.
As the rains proceeded north and flooded farmlands in the nation’s grain-producing region, another 14 deaths were recorded in the Jilin province city of Shulan.
According to state media, more than 1.5 million people were forced to abandon their houses in Hebei, including those who had to flee so-called “flood storage areas,” which were flooded as flood control officials let go of trapped water.
According to provincial authorities, approximately 200,000 homes were damaged or completely destroyed by flooding, with the total cost of the disaster’s damage anticipated to exceed $13 billion.
By the end of next month, according to the authorities, they hope to have everyone back in their homes.
Separately, on Sunday, a house in Leyu village, Hengnan county, collapsed due to severe winds, leaving three people dead and two others hurt in Hunan province. According to China National Radio, seven individuals were inside the house when it fell as they sought refuge from the torrential rains.