12,000 evacuated as rain lashes SW China

CHENGDU -?A new round of rainstorms have pounded Southwest China's Sichuan province over the past two days, flooding townships, disrupting roads and forcing 12,300 people to relocate.

Heavy rain lashed most parts of Sichuan on Wednesday and Thursday where rainstorm-triggered floods and landslides last week left 58 people dead and 175 others missing.

As a result of the weather, water in local rivers have exceeded warning levels.

In the city of Guangyuan, flooding has forced the evacuation of 12,300 residents, inundated nine townships, disrupted 20 country roads and triggered nine landslides, said a city government statement Thursday.

Rainstorms are forecast to continue until Saturday in most parts of Sichuan, according to the provincial meteorological center.

The provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters have sent two work groups to several areas to coordinate disaster relief efforts.

Torrential rain over the past two days also wreaked havoc in the city of Zhaotong, in Sichuan's neighboring province of Yunnan.

Three people died, 53,100 have been affected, 1,300 evacuated and thousands of hectares of crops damaged in five counties and districts in Zhaotong, said the city's flood control authorities Thursday.