At least 15 people were killed and several remain missing after floods, thunderstorms and landslides hit central and northwestern China, prompting emergency evacuations, state media reported Tuesday.
Eleven casualties were reported in Hubei province, where its eastern region was hit by thunderstorms and gale-force winds brought on by severe convective weather Monday night, Xinhua News reported, citing the province’s emergency management authorities.
Thunderstorms and strong winds hit the cities of Huangshi, Huanggang, Ezhou and Xianning. Some areas saw tornadoes, according to local authorities.
Three communities in Huanggang’s Huangzhou district have been severely battered by the latest round of convective weather.
The extreme weather has torn down 22 buildings and damaged another 4,855 in the area, injuring 331 local residents, local authorities said.
Authorities have upgraded flood alert to the highest-level red warning for southern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, followed by another red flood alert issued by its neighboring Guangdong province.
A total of 48,000 people have been evacuated from the affected areas in the province.
Separately, a landslide in a village in the northwestern province of Gansu buried 33 people on Tuesday. At least 17 were rescued.
President Xi Jinping has urged all-out efforts in organizing flood emergency rescue, disaster relief, and resettlement of the affected people.
The Chinese government has also allocated 160 million yuan ($23.5 million) in central natural disaster relief funds to support rescue and relief work in six provincial-level regions, according to state media.
