GLOBAL WARMING — BREAKING NEWS
China Evacuates 51,000 People in Liaoning on Floods
By Luo Jun, Li Xiaowei
Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) — Chinese authorities evacuated 51,000 residents in the northeastern province of Liaoning as the Yalu River flooded parts of Dandong City, state-run Xinhua News reported.
Three people were missing as of 7 a.m. local time and the rising waters collapsed 230 houses, Xinhua said, citing the city government. Train service between Dandong and Shenyang, the provincial capital, was suspended in the afternoon as railroad tracks were inundated, a Shenyang Railway Bureau spokesman said.
Heavy rains will hit China’s northeastern, central and southwestern regions in the next 24 hours, China’s National Meteorological Center said in a statement earlier today. The center issued its third-highest alert for provinces including Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Liaoning and Yunnan.
Dandong is across the river from the North Korean city of Sinuiju, about 26 kilometers (16 miles) from the mouth of the Yalu. Transport, communication and power supplies were cut off in some areas, Xinhua said, adding that downtown Dandong hadn’t been affected.
North Korean homes and farmland near the city of Sinuiju have been flooded by the swollen Yalu River after more than 300 millimeters (12 inches) of rain, according to a report today by state-run Korean Central News Agency. The Yalu forms the border between North Korea and China.
Thousands Dead
Thousands of people across China have died in mudslides and floods this year as downpours inundated many regions of the country. China’s Cabinet ordered a day of mourning on Aug. 14 for at least 1,156 people killed in a mudslide in Zhouqu county in Gansu province.
North Korea earlier this month said floods swept away homes, damaged factories and about 14,850 hectares (36,700 acres) of farmland was “submerged, buried or washed away.” Rail links were blocked, bridges destroyed and power equipment broken, the state-run Korea Central News Agency reported on Aug. 5.
