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

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

Even before Tropical cyclone Gaemi struck on July 25, China was roiled by months of severe weather that mauled southern provinces with record rain and parched northern areas with heat waves. Weather authorities are warning of more extreme weather condition in August.

The city of Zixing took the brunt of the tropical storm in Hunan, lashed by 673.9 mm (26.5 inches) of rain over 24 hr, regional authorities informed a press conference, or the equivalent of a. quarter of its average annual rains.

The most effective tropical storm to hit China this year, Gaemi has. killed 30 homeowners of the city, with 35 missing out on, local. authorities stated at an interview on Friday.

Hurricane Gaemi brought fantastic damage to Zixing, said. provincial disaster avoidance official Xiao Yingbin. It was a. extremely serious natural catastrophe.

Power supply was knocked out in 149 villages and. communications cut in 78, while 1,641 houses were ruined and. 1,345 sections of roadway collapsed, one authorities stated.

About 118,000 homeowners of Zixing, or a 3rd of its. population, have actually been impacted, and about 13,800 hectares. ( 34,100 acres) of crops were damaged, the official added.

Rescuers should make every effort to discover the missing out on, restore. infrastructure and defend against disasters such as landslides,. China's second-most senior authorities, Premier Li Qiang, urged on. Thursday throughout a check out to the city.

Mountainous surface and thick forests present challenges for. the rescuers, authorities stated, as they have been required to walk. to the hardest-hit areas, cut off by road collapses.

Products needed to be air-dropped in some places, said regional. emergency management authorities Cao Zhongsheng.

FINANCIAL EFFECT

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

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

Extreme weather condition crimped China's factory operations in July. while high temperatures and floods hobbled the construction. sector, main information revealed this week, after last month's. contraction in manufacturing activity.

July was China's hottest month in contemporary history, matching. record high temperatures somewhere else in the world fuelled by. environment change.

More extreme weather is in store for China in August, Jia. Xiaolong, deputy head of the National Environment Center, said on. Thursday, with lots of regions anticipated to get more rain than in. corresponding periods of previous years.

Approximately three tropical cyclones might hit China this month, he included.

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

Checking out the central province of Henan today, Vice. Premier Liu Guozhong called for efforts to limit damage to farm. output from downpour and floods and guarantee a bumper. fall harvest.

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

(source: Reuters)