The local authorities in Hebei Province, north China, announced today, Friday, that 29 people had died as a result of the disasters resulting from the recent round of torrential rains in the province, while 16 people are still missing.

According to the Chinese News Agency Xinhua, the provincial government said that torrential rains and severe floods caused destruction in 110 counties, cities and districts of the province.

Infrastructure including transportation, energy, communications and water facilities in the affected areas were damaged... the province incurred direct economic losses amounting to 95.81 billion yuan (about 13.38 billion US dollars), and the overall situation of the disaster is still being assessed and verified."

As of Thursday evening, the flooding had affected an estimated 3.89 million people. A total of 319,700 hectares of crops were damaged, while 131,500 hectares of them were destroyed.

Residential areas also incurred losses, with 40,900 homes collapsed, while 155,500 homes were severely damaged. A total of 1,150 primary and secondary schools and kindergartens were damaged.

The province has carried out advance evacuation of residents from flood water storage and retention areas, as well as from areas at risk of geological disasters. Approximately 1.76 million people have been transported."

The province aims to complete the post-disaster reconstruction work within two years, and to ensure that every affected student will return to school by September 1, as well as ensuring that residents can return to their homes or move to new accommodations before the onset of winter.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency