More deadly flooding in central China

During China's second round of flooding this month, more than 170 people died and scores remained missing after heavy rains touched off floods and landslides in China this week, officials said Saturday. State-run media put the economic losses at over $2 billion, and meteorologists warned that more thunderstorms were expected in the coming days.

Worst since 1998

This year's flood season has been the worst since 1998, according to state media.  Water levels in some of China's major rivers have exceeded the floods of 1998, which saw 4,150 people killed, most of them along the Yangtze River. The first half of the year has seen 576 people recorded as dead or missing. 

In the most recent flooding, more than 52,000 houses collapsed and an additional 161,000 were damaged, according to the Civil Affairs Department. 

Inundated Cities

Heavy rains across usually dry regions like Beijing forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes. Authorities put the number of affected people in Hebei alone at more than 9 million, with nearly 300,000 evacuated.

In the city of Xingtai, about 200 miles southwest of Beijing, at least 25 people were dead, and 13 were missing after the Qili River overflowed its banks in the early hours Wednesday (July 20), flooding homes as people slept.  Between 3 p.m. Tuesday and midnight, nearly 60% of the typical annual rainfall had inundated the area.

Prayer request

Join the Christians in China in praying for relief from the flood waters.  But also pray that, God would use these terrible losses to bring many millions to know the eternal gains of his grace through the witness of those Christians.

___________

Sources
Floodlist.com  
CNN 
Los Angeles Times

Photos
Los Angeles Times 
BBC