Death toll in China flooding rises as nation braces for more

BEIJING-The death toll from fierce rain storms and flooding in China continued to rise Saturday as the government scrambled to step up relief and prevention efforts,state press reportedIn eastern Shandong province,the toll rose to 40 dead and nine missing as of Friday night, following a week of record rains that deluged the provincial capital of Jinan and surrounding areas, Xinhua news agency said.A record 180 millimetres (7.2 inches) of rain pummelled the city on Wednesday,snarling traffic and cutting off electricity and water supplies in the fiercest storms to hit the capital since 1916, meteorologists said.The latest toll was up from 32 dead as of early Friday.By Saturday more than 559,000 people had been affected by flooding in Shandong and 112,600 evacuated as water-levels on the nearby Yellow River and in surrounding
reservoirs remained above warning lines,the report said.The state flood headquarters issued warnings to shore up dykes and levies on major rivers and reservoirs and dispatch relief and medical supplies to hard hit regions in both east and southwest China.Meanwhile,the death toll in Chongqing municipal in China's southwest rose to 42 people and 12 missing from torrential downpours that have affected up to 6.8 million people since Monday.More than 292,000 people have been evacuated in the mountainous region along the Yangtze river,with over 100,000 homes damaged and crops on about 175,000 hectares(432,000 acres)of farmland destroyed, Xinhua said in a separate report.In neighboring Yunnan province, south of Chongqing, rescuers Saturday continued to search for two migrant workers that went missing when a giant landslide engulfed their work camp on Thursday killing 27 other labourers,other press reports said.
China's death toll from natural disasters this year reached 715 by July 16 with about half of the fatalities coming this month and 129 people still missing, Xinhua said Friday, citing the civil affairs ministry.
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