Rainstorm hits NW China, relief efforts underway

Due to severe convective weather, some areas such as Longnan, Gannan, Qingyang and Dingxi have been hit by heavy rainfall for several days, which has led to flooding and waterlogging disasters. This has seriously disrupted communication, transportation, water and power supply in some areas.

As of 6 am on Thursday, there are still many rural areas where communications, transportation, water supply and power have not been restored, according to the Emergency Management Office of Gansu Province. Among them:

Communications were disrupted in 3 towns and 878 villages.

Roads were interrupted in 52 towns and 889 villages.

Water supply was cut off in 43 towns and 979 villages.

Power supply was cut off in 21 towns and 772 villages.

At present, the Gansu Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has set up a disaster relief command center to coordinate transportation, communications, electric power, water conservation and other sectors.

Rescue and relief teams are repairing roads, communications, electricity, water supply and other infrastructure as quickly as possible.

They coordinated the deployment of six military and local rescue helicopters to transfer trapped people, airdropped supplies to villages where roads were disrupted and ensured affected people had food, clean water, clothing and safe shelter.