Heavy rains kill 11, affect millions in southwest China

Storms and flooding left 11 people dead and four others missing in southwest China\'s Sichuan Province as of Tuesday, according to the provincial flood control office. Torrential rains have battered much of the Sichuan Basin since June 29. The central and northern parts of the basin have seen heavy rain, with precipitation in Suining\'s Chuanshan District reaching 623.7 mm, the highest since 1951, Xinhua quoted the provincial meteorological bureau as saying. The flood control office said 2.55 million people in 42 counties across the province have been affected by the rain as of 7 p.m. Tuesday. About 127,000 people have been relocated, 119,000 hectares of crops have been damaged and 6,600 houses have been destroyed. The rain also damaged 13 reservoirs in the province, the office said. Local civil affairs departments have allocated disaster relief supplies for those affected by the rain. The National Committee for Disaster Reduction and the Civil Affairs Ministry dispatched work groups to affected regions to direct relief work on Monday. In neighboring Chongqing Municipality, nearly 900,000 people have been affected by heavy rain since June 30. The flood control and drought relief headquarters of Chongqing said Tuesday that the rain has resulted in direct economic losses of 600 million yuan (98 million U.S. dollars). Several rivers in Chongqing have flooded due to rising water levels on upstream river tributaries. The municipal meteorological observatory forecast that the rain will stop on Wednesday.