50,000 in south China evacuated after rains causes floods

Over 50,000 people in south China were evacuated from their homes after heavy rains this week led to flooding in some of the areas, reports said today.     

The torrential downpour, which continued for three days, flooded the banks of Rongjiang River, forcing 47,000 people of Rongshui County of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of south China to leave their houses.     

According to the county government half of the 20 townships reported rainfall up to 200 mm from Wednesday to Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.     

Another 7,509 people living below Guangxi region's Kama reservoir were evacuated for fear that the dam might collapse as water flow had destroyed a section of a dyke near the base of the reservoir.     

Several houses in the rural areas were also destroyed in the flood, while farmlands were inundated and crops damaged.     

It has been estimated that rains have caused about $21 billion in damages.     

Earlier Xinhua had reported that 20 people had died and eight were missing in the flood.     

With water levels of some rivers in Gaungxi touching the highest since 1998, China experienced worst flooding in over 100 years.