At least 10 people have died and 33 others went missing as flash foods hit Yuzhong County in China’s northwestern Gansu province, Chinese state media reported.
The development comes as heavy rains since Thursday have triggered flash floods and at least one landslide in mountainous areas near the city of Lanzhou, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The heavy rains knocked out power and telecommunications services in the Xinglong mountain area, leaving more than 4,000 people across four villages stranded.
In the wake of these developments, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged all-out rescue and flood prevention efforts in the area.
The natural calamity in Gansu region comes as other parts of China battle some of the heaviest rains in decades. Rescue teams in the southern Guangdong province are engaged in clearing debris, opening drains and pumping water away from urban streets after what officials described as some of the worst August rains since the 19th century.
In the meantime, reports suggested that heavy flooding has damaged roads, toppled trees, and even exposed underground cables in some areas.
It should be noted that the heavy rainfall has disrupted flights — with Guangzhou’s Baiyun airport cancelling more than 360 and delaying over 300 on Wednesday — and raised fears of a worsening disease outbreak, as per a report by Reuters. Health authorities have warned of a surge in chikungunya cases, spread by mosquitoes breeding in stagnant floodwater. The province has already reported more than 7,000 infections this year.
In the last few days, China has faced extreme weather with the East Asian monsoon stalling over the north and south.
