Unprecedented floods in China have killed 56 people. (image for representation)
The death toll from unprecedented rain-triggered floods in central China has risen to 56, state media reported on Friday, with five people reported missing and nearly USD 10 billion in damages officially .
The provincial emergency management department said the torrential rains, the heaviest in 1,000 years, affected nearly three million people in Henan province and moved a total of 376,000 local residents to safer places.
The death toll from torrential rains in central China’s Henan province has risen to 56, while five people are reported missing, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted local officials as saying.
According to the provincial emergency management department, rescue efforts are still ongoing, including drainage operations in the Jingguang Road tunnel in the drainage underpass provincial capital Zhengzhou, where several vehicles were stuck since Tuesday.
The department said that there is still a large amount of water in the tunnel, where casualties have been reported. The exact number of casualties is yet to be confirmed.
China Daily quoted local officials as saying the direct economic damage had reached 65.5 billion yuan ($10 billion).
Rescue teams are helping thousands of people trapped in floodwaters after 12 million people returned to normalcy in the city of Zhengzhou.
On Thursday, officials rushed to evacuate patients as a rain storm flooded hospitals. Patients were admitted to hospitals to avoid the havoc of the floods.
Read also: China floods: 25 killed, over one million affected; President Xi calls on PLA
Meanwhile, Zhengzhou downgraded its emergency response level as clean-up continued after this week’s devastating floods, but other parts of Henan province were receiving more heavy rainfall, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
Several days of heavy rain had hit Zhengzhou, which has not caused floods of such intensity in decades.
More than 8,000 military personnel worked in 10 different danger zones around the city, Xinhua news agency reported.
Donation counters were set up around the city to distribute essential supplies after panic-stricken residents bought supplies during the first days of the floods.
Meanwhile, firefighters are visiting nearby villages to help residents who have been injured or stranded and were working all day to clear flooded roads.
Roads were turned into flowing rivers, flooding people and vehicles and apartments. Hundreds of cars were washed away in the floods in different parts of the city.
Read also: 12 killed in floods in central China, roads turned into rivers
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