Roads to flood-hit Gansu villages are reopened

Lines of transport to flood-hit villages in Northwest China's Gansu province have been restored, it was announced on Saturday. The flash flooding that impacted the area earlier this week left 10 people and a further 33 reported missing.

As of 7am on Saturday, after 21 hours of continuous effort, roads through Yuzhong county villages including Maliantan, Shangzhuang, Jiuzhuang, Hongzhuang and Yangwa had been cleared, allowing large equipment and supplies to pass and enabling firefighting and rescue teams to conduct search and rescue operations.

During the emergency response, the State Grid Gansu Electric Power Company deployed 330 personnel in 11 repair teams, along with 73 emergency vehicles, 42 generators and three mobile power stations to provide emergency power. By 9pm on Saturday, power had been fully restored to all affected residents in Yuzhong, with efforts switching to the repair of damaged grids.

Between Thursday and Friday, torrential rainfall triggered flash floods in Yuzhong county and surrounding areas in Lanzhou, Gansu province, causing extensive damage to roads, power lines and other infrastructure.

Preliminary assessments revealed that the downpour damaged 51 roads, spanning a total length of 102.2 kilometers.

The highest rainfall of 220.2 millimeters was recorded on Xinglong Mountain, which led to damage to some power transmission lines.

In response to the disaster, local authorities quickly mobilized highway development centers in the cities of Lanzhou, Dingxi and Baiyin, as well as in Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture and nearby areas. They coordinated with relevant transportation enterprises to dispatch more than 670 emergency personnel, along with 130 units of machinery and equipment, to the front lines for urgent repairs and road clearance.