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Rescuers in China race to discover missing, seal dykes after devastating floods

Rescuers in China scrambled on Friday to find lots of people still missing out on a week after the year's most powerful tropical cyclone roared into the southern province of Hunan, while emergency situation employees hurried to seal breached dykes on swollen rivers.

Even before Hurricane Gaemi hit on July 25, China was roiled by months of extreme weather that pounded southern provinces with record rain and dry northern regions with heat waves. Weather authorities are cautioning of more extreme weather in August.

The city of Zixing took the impact of the tropical cyclone in Hunan, lashed by 673.9 mm (26.5 inches) of rain over 24 hours, local officials informed a press conference, or the equivalent of a. quarter of its typical annual rainfall.

The most effective typhoon to hit China this year, Gaemi has. killed 30 locals of the city, with 35 missing out on, local. officials said at an interview on Friday.

Tropical storm Gaemi brought fantastic damage to Zixing, said. provincial disaster avoidance authorities Xiao Yingbin. It was a. really major natural disaster.

Power supply was knocked out in 149 villages and. interactions cut in 78, while 1,641 houses were damaged and. 1,345 areas of road collapsed, one official stated.

About 118,000 citizens of Zixing, or a third of its. population, have been affected, and about 13,800 hectares. ( 34,100 acres) of crops were harmed, the official added.

Rescuers should strive to discover the missing, restore. facilities and guard against catastrophes such as landslides,. China's second-most senior official, Premier Li Qiang, urged on. Thursday throughout a check out to the city.

Throughout Hunan province, the rains have actually impacted 1.15 million. individuals, with direct financial losses of 6.13 billion yuan ($ 849. million).

Emergency situation employees hurried this week to seal a breached dyke. on the Juanshui River, with two other dyke breaches reported on. July 28.

Severe weather crimped China's factory operations in July. while high temperatures and floods hobbled the building. sector, official information showed this week, after last month's. contraction in production activity.

July was China's hottest month in contemporary history, mirroring. record high temperatures somewhere else in the world sustained by. environment modification.

More harsh weather remains in store for China in August, Jia. Xiaolong, deputy head of the National Climate Center, stated on. Thursday, with many regions anticipated to get more rain than in. corresponding durations of previous years.

Approximately 3 hurricanes might strike China this month, he added.

Dry spell might hit the middle and lower reaches of the. Yangtze River in central China, Jia included, calling for steps. such as cloudseeding to make sure crops grow.

Checking out the main province of Henan this week, Vice. Premier Liu Guozhong required efforts to limit damage to farm. output from downpour and floods and make sure a bumper. fall harvest.

Henan, called China's granary, grows about one-third of. its wheat.

(source: Reuters)