China's Rains Arrive at Critical Moment for Coal and Dam Sectors
The storms are expected to last through at least early next week, the latest downpour of a rainy season that peaks between June and August. The major hydropower regions of Yunnan and parts of Sichuan and Guizhou are set for as much as 250 millimeters (10 inches) of precipitation during the period, some 20% to 70% more than average, according to the China Meteorological Administration.
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News24
a day ago
- News24
Heavy rain, ‘massive surge of water' kill 13 in China, 350 in Pakistan
Heavy rain pounded China. The flood death toll is 13. Around 20 villagers are still trapped under the flood debris in Pakistan. At least three more people have died in heavy rains in northern China, state media said on Tuesday, taking to 13 the death toll in recent storms across the region, with five still missing and no let-up in rain forecast. Downpours heavier than usual have battered parts of China in extreme weather since July, with the East Asian monsoon rains stalling over its north and south. Three bodies were retrieved from flood waters in the Inner Mongolia city of Ordos, the official news agency Xinhua said, while three people were reported missing about 70km away near the banks of the Yellow River. Monday's downpour was the first of three forecast for the next few days, television news said. It dumped more than 204mm of rain in less than 24 hours on the district where the bodies were found, or more than double the monthly average for August, weather authorities said. On Saturday, a flash flood after a river burst its banks in the region's grasslands killed at least 10 people, sweeping away 13 campers on the outskirts of the city of Bayannur, about 350km northwest of Ordos. One of those was rescued, but two are missing. Rescue workers are scouring for the three missing people in Ordos, in an area that is also close to one of China's rare earth hubs, the city of Baotou. Heavy rainfall and severe floods that meteorologists link to climate change pose major challenges for authorities, threatening to overwhelm ageing flood defences, displace millions and lead to economic losses running into billions. AFP reported that in neighbouring Pakistan, around 20 villagers are still trapped under the debris from a torrent of water and rocks which swept down on the village of Dalori on Monday, destroying at least 15 houses, damaging several others and killing nine people. Hussain Ali/Anadolu via Getty Images In the middle of the night, by the glow of their mobile phones, rescuers and villagers dug through the concrete remains of flattened houses after massive rocks crashed down on a remote Pakistani village following a cloudburst. Using hammers, shovels, and in many cases their bare hands to clear the rubble and open blocked pathways, they searched through the debris in darkness, with no electricity in the area. 'A huge bang came from the top of the mountain, and then dark smoke billowed into the sky,' Lal Khan, a 46-year-old local labourer, told AFP. 'A massive surge of water gushed down with the sliding mountain,' he added. The cloudburst above Dalori came a few days into heavy monsoon rains that have already killed more than 350 people across mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, along the northwest border with Afghanistan. Torrential rains in northern Pakistan since Thursday have caused flooding and landslides that have swept away entire villages, with around 200 people still missing.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Pakistan defends flood response after more than 270 people killed
Rescuers recovered dozens more bodies from the rubble of collapsed homes in a north-western district of Pakistan, bringing the death toll to at least 274, as authorities defended their response to the flooding. Heavy rains and flooding also killed dozens of people in neighbouring Kashmir. Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for Pakistan's emergency service, said 54 bodies were found in Buner, a mountainous area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where torrential rains and cloudbursts triggered massive flooding on Friday. Mr Suhail said villagers remained missing, and search efforts were focused on areas where homes were flattened by torrents of water that swept down from the mountains, carrying boulders that smashed into houses like explosions. Authorities have warned of more deluges and possible landslides between now and Tuesday, urging local administrations to remain on alert. Higher-than-normal monsoon rains have lashed the country since June 26 and killed more than 600. In India-administered Kashmir, located across Pakistan's north-eastern border, rains triggered more flash floods in two villages in the Kathua district, killing seven people, officials said on Sunday. Rescuers in Chositi village are still looking for dozens of missing people after the area was hit by flash floods last week during an annual Hindu pilgrimage. At least 60 people were killed, and some 150 injured. More than 300 others were rescued. Residents in Buner have accused officials of failing to warn them to evacuate after torrential rain and cloudbursts triggered deadly flooding and landslides. There was no warning broadcast from mosque loudspeakers, a traditional method in remote areas. The government said that while an early warning system was in place, the sudden downpour in Buner was so intense that the deluge struck before residents could be alerted. Lieutenant General Inam Haider, chairman of the national disaster management authority, told a hastily convened news conference in Islamabad that Pakistan was experiencing shifting weather patterns because of climate change. Since the monsoon season began in June, Pakistan has already received 50% more rainfall than in the same period last year, he said. He warned that more intense weather could follow, with heavy rains forecast to continue this month. Some countries have reached out to Islamabad offering help, but Lt Gen Haider said Pakistan had sufficient resources and did not require foreign assistance at this time. Asfandyar Khan Khattak, director-general of the provincial disaster management authority, said there was 'no forecasting system anywhere in the world' that could predict the exact time and location of a cloudburst, a sudden and intense downpour. Idrees Mahsud, a disaster management official, said Pakistan's early warning system used satellite imagery and meteorological data to send alerts to local authorities. These were shared through the media and community leaders. An emergency services spokesman in Buner, Mohammad Sohail, said more than half the damaged roads in the district had reopened by Sunday, allowing vehicles and heavy machinery to reach cut-off villages. Crews were clearing piles of rocks and mud dumped by the floods. They were still using heavy machinery to remove the rubble of collapsed homes after families reported that some of their relatives were missing. Pakistan is highly vulnerable to climate-induced disasters. In 2022, a record-breaking monsoon killed nearly 1,700 people and destroyed millions of homes. The country also suffers regular flash floods and landslides during the monsoon season, which runs from June to September, particularly in the rugged north-west of the country, where villages are often perched on steep slopes and riverbanks. Experts say climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of such extreme weather events in South Asia. Khalid Khan, a weather expert, said Pakistan produced less than 1% of planet-warming emissions but faced heat waves, heavy rains, glacial outburst floods and now cloudbursts, underscoring how climate change was devastating communities within hours.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Northern China flash flood kills 9, Xinhua reports
BEIJING (Reuters) -At least nine people died in a flash flood in northern China, state media reported on Sunday, with three others still missing, as the East Asian monsoon continues to unleash atmospheric chaos across the world's second-largest economy. The banks of a river running through the grasslands of Inner Mongolia burst at around 10 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Saturday, the report said, washing away 13 people camping on the outskirts of the city of Bayannur, a major agricultural hub. A search and rescue operation involving more than 700 people is underway, according to state news agency Xinhua. One person has been rescued. China has suffered weeks of extreme weather since July, battered by heavier-than-usual downpours with the monsoon stalling over its north and south. Weather experts link the shifting pattern to climate change, testing officials as flash floods displace thousands and threaten billions of dollars in economic losses. Bayannur is an important national grain and oil production base, as well as a sheep breeding and processing centre. At the other end of the country, a three-and-a-half-month fishing suspension in the southern province of Hainan ended on Saturday, state media reported, after agricultural affairs officials ordered ships to shelter in port owing to persistent, heavy rain. In the southwestern province of Sichuan, severe weather on Friday killed two people and injured three others at a beer festival in the city of Mianzhu, after a truss fell on them, according to a local police report on Saturday. The deluge in Inner Mongolia follows a deadly downpour in Beijing - just under 1,000 km (621 miles) away - late last month which killed at least 44 people and forced the evacuation of more than 70,000 residents. The central government announced last week 430 million yuan ($59.9 million) in fresh funding for disaster relief, taking the total allocated since April to at least 5.8 billion yuan.
