Flash floods kill at least 10 people and leave 33 missing in northwestern China
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Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
Death toll from northwest China floods rises to 13
BEIJING: The death toll from flash floods and mudslides in northwest China has risen to 13, state media said on Saturday, after the bodies of three people were found. Torrents of mud and water began hitting mountainous areas of Gansu province on Thursday, with the death toll listed as 10 on Friday as rescuers searched for at least 33 missing people. Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer, when some regions experience heavy rain while others bake in searing heat. Chinese President Xi Jinping called for the 'utmost effort' in rescuing missing people, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Friday. The death toll stood at 13, with the number of missing now listed as 30, state news agency Xinhua said on Saturday. Hundreds of people had been rescued and thousands more evacuated, Xinhua added. It quoted a rescue official describing the situation as 'complex' due to the mud and rough roads, with telephone lines and electricity also cut. State media on Friday put the number of people trapped in the mountainous Xinglong area at 4,000, with heavy rain pushing garbage into roads. Beijing's top economic planner has allocated 100 million yuan ($14 million) toward disaster relief in Gansu. Authorities also announced a yellow alert on Saturday for torrential rains and activated a flood response plan in the provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei and Chongqing, CCTV said. China's south has also experienced torrential downpours this week, with tens of thousands of people evacuated across Guangdong. Heavy rain in Beijing in the north also killed 44 people last month, with the capital's rural suburbs hardest hit and another eight people killed in a landslide in nearby Hebei province. Scientists warn the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events will increase as the planet continues to heat up because of fossil fuel emissions. China is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases but is also a global renewable energy powerhouse.
Arab News
2 days ago
- Arab News
Flash floods kill at least 10 people and leave 33 missing in northwestern China
The downpour knocked out power and telecommunications services in the Xinglong MountainThree people were missing after a landslide in the village of Maliantan BEIJING: At least 10 people died and 33 were missing after flash foods in Yuzhong County in China's northwestern Gansu province, Chinese state media reported rains since Thursday had triggered flash floods and at least one landslide in mountainous areas near the city of Lanzhou, according to state broadcaster downpour knocked out power and telecommunications services in the Xinglong Mountain area, stranding more than 4,000 people across four people were missing after a landslide in the village of Maliantan in Yuzhong County late rainfall in the area had reached 195 millimeters (7.7 inches) by early Friday, according to Lanzhou local President Xi Jinping urged all-out rescue and flood prevention parts of China are being battered by heavy rains. In the southern metropolis of Guangzhou, seven people died and seven others were injured after a flood-triggered landslide buried homes in the city's northern Baiyun district Zhengzhou, the capital of the central Henan province, local authorities shut down schools, offices and factories and closed traffic in parts of the city, which saw catastrophic floods that killed at least 292 people in 2021.
Arab News
3 days ago
- Arab News
France's largest wildfire in decades contained after devastating southern region and wine country
Late Thursday, the region's top government official said the fire was containedThe fire swept through 15 communes in the Corbières mountain region, destroying or damaging at least 36 homes, with a full damage assessment still underwayVILLEROUGE LA CREMADE, France: France's largest wildfire in decades was contained Thursday after burning more than 160 square kilometers (62 square miles) in the country's southern wine region and claiming one life, local authorities blaze erupted Tuesday and tore through the Aude region, spreading rapidly due to hot, dry weather. Cooler overnight temperatures and calmer winds slowed its advance and allowed firefighters to make Thursday, the region's top government official said the fire was contained. However, residents were warned not to return home without authorization, as many roads remained blocked and fire swept through 15 communes in the Corbières mountain region, destroying or damaging at least 36 homes, with a full damage assessment still underway. One person died at home, and at least 13 others were injured, including 11 firefighters, according to local authorities. Three people who were reported missing have been found investigation is underway to determine what sparked the fire was the largest recorded since France's national fire database was created in France's minister for ecological transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, called the blaze the worst since 1949 and linked it to climate change.'It is a fire that is clearly a consequence of climate change and drought in this region,' she told France Info the breakthrough, officials warned the situation remained fragile.'We still have a few days before we can say that the fire is completely out,' region administrator Christian Pouget said. 'The battle is not over region's economy relies heavily on winemaking and tourism — both fire began in the village of Ribaute, in a rural, wooded area known for its wineries. Pouget said between 8 and 9 square kilometers (more than 3 square miles) of vineyards had burned. Officials estimate 80 percent of local vines were either destroyed or damaged — and even the grapes that survived may be too smoke-tainted to produce quality wine.'The vineyards are burnt and the landscape is gone,' said Batiste Caval, a seventh-generation winemaker near vineyards acted as natural firebreaks, leaving a surreal patchwork of scorched hills and untouched green vines. But across the Corbières, entire stretches of historic vineyards were reduced to ash. Caval, who owns 60 of the 400 hectares farmed by a local cooperative, said the fire may tip already struggling winemakers into crisis after years of drought and other harsh vines typically take three years to bear usable fruit. Some can produce wine for decades, even up to half a century.'It's very sad to think about the image we're going to give of our Corbières region, with its devastated landscapes and desperate women and men, not just today or tomorrow, but for weeks and months to come. It will take years to rebuild,' said Xavier de Volontat, the mayor of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, speaking to and tourists in nearby areas had been asked to stay indoors unless ordered to evacuate. Those forced to flee were housed overnight in emergency shelters across 17 Europe has seen multiple large fires this summer. Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, making the region more vulnerable to wildfires. Last month, a wildfire that reached the southern port of Marseille, France's second-largest city, left around 300 people is the world's fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing at twice the speed of the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service.
