This Article is From May 21, 2016

Strong Storm Kills 8, Leaves 4 Missing In Southern China

Strong Storm Kills 8, Leaves 4 Missing In Southern China

More 540,000 people from 131 villages were affected by the storm.

Beijing: At least eight people were killed and another four went missing in a strong storm that hammered a southern Chinese city, the official Xinhua News Agency said today.

All deaths and the missing people were reported in the city of Xinyi, which was hit the hardest by Friday's storm, which drenched houses, broke levees, flooded farmland and destroyed roads.

The Xinyi government said the storm brought the heaviest rainfall since 1954, when authorities started to collect weather data.

The accumulative precipitation was 46.3 centimeters (18.2 inches) from Thursday evening to Friday afternoon, and authorities recorded 13.3 centimeters (5.2 inches) in rainfall in one hour, the Xinyi government said.

More 540,000 people from 131 villages were affected by the storm, it said.

All 2,250 local cadres were called in to help with the rescue work this weekend, and school will be suspended, the Xinyi government said.

Xinhua said a nearby town was also affected, but to a much lesser degree.
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