Rainstorms in Southwest China Leave 15 Dead, 10 MissingRainstorms in the past few days have left 15 people dead, 10 missing and many injured in Jinping County of Yunnan Province, southwest China.The rainstorms, which started on July 4, also caused severe damage to six primary and middle schools in the county and infrastructure facilities, and cut off transportation, telecommunications and power supply, paralyzing the northern parts of the poverty-stricken county that borders Vietnam. Local officials said 1,349 houses that belong to 340 households collapsed or were damaged, and total economic losses are estimated at 36 million yuan (4.3 million U.S. dollars). The mountainous county has a population of 310,000, with more than 86 percent from minority nationalities, and its fiscal revenue last year was only 22 million yuan (2.65 million U.S. dollars). Meteorologists forecast heavy rain in the rest of the month, which may cause floods, mud-rock flows and landslides. |
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