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China Flood Death Toll Rises
Floodwaters surging through Himalayan foothills in western China have swept away bridges, houses and hillsides, leaving at least 25 people dead and dozens missing.
Flooding in the western province of Sichuan was the worst for 50 years in some areas, with more than 100,000 people forced to evacuate their homes.
Nationwide at least 44 people have died, around 66 are missing and at least 1.6 million have been otherwise affected since Sunday, according to figures from the civil affairs ministry and the official Xinhua news agency.
Thousands of homes have been destroyed or damaged and transportation has been brought to a virtual standstill in hard-hit areas.
Many of the casualties in Sichuan were from a massive landslide that struck a scenic resort outside the city of Dujiangyan. An entire hillside collapsed on to clusters of holiday cottages where city dwellers go to escape summer heat, a survivor told Xinhua.
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Mudslides and flooding are common in China's mountainous areas, killing hundreds of people each year, but in some areas the current floods are the worst in half a century. Reports said the 94cms (37 inches) of rainfall that fell on Dujiangyan over 40 hours beginning on Monday was the most since records began in 1954.
The flooding caused the collapse of an almost 50-year-old bridge in a neighbouring county, sending six vehicles into the raging waters and leaving 12 people missing.
The region lies in the foothills of the Tibetan plateau, where mountains rise sharply from the densely populated Sichuan basin.
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Death Toll To Reach 5000 In India Monsoon Flooding
Haridwar - The ravages caused by monsoon tragedy in the state of Uttarakhand, India, could worsen with the death toll expected to cross 5,000. Rescue workers in northern India are scrambling to save tens of thousands of lives left stranded by devastating floods that have estimated to have killed more than one thousand in the region.
Raging rivers swept away houses, buildings, roads, bridges and entire villages. Dozens of helicopters and thousands of soldiers have been deployed to help people stranded across the state. Kedarnath Valley, the temple town in the state of Uttarakhand which was the epicentre of cloudbursts, flash floods, and landslides was on Sunday cleared of all stranded pilgrims, according to reports.
Rescuers battled rains to evacuate more than 3,000 more people in the disaster. On his return from an aerial survey of the affected areas, Disaster Management Minister Yashpal Arya told reporters at the Jollygrant airport:
“At least 5,000 people must have been killed in the deluge that inflicted heavy damage on vast tracts of land especially in Kedarnath valley.” Mr Arya did not specify an exact figure saying extrication of bodies from under debris in affected areas is yet to be taken up. With the emphasis to rescue the stranded, little has been done to recover bodies buried under debris and mud. Officials fear that the number of dead may grow substantially.
“It is hard to come up with a definite death count until the forces can look through the debris and the slush,” said a police officer. The official death toll until yesterday was put at 680 while Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said the death toll is likely to be around 1,000. "Very heavy casualties are feared and I cannot give the exact number without a proper survey" He described the severe flooding as a "Himalayan tsunami."
Also see:
Record Flooding In Alberta, Canada
Record Floods In Central Europe
This is heartbreaking. All over the world we see this same pattern. These same extremes. Droughts, floods, storms, wildfires more extreme. And yet, the oil orcs and their minions still deny because money means more to them than a habitable planet.
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