BEIJING, May 28, 2008 (AFP) - The death toll from torrential rains in China has climbed to 23, as three more deaths were confirmed in central Hubei province, state media reported. The three dead were killed by thunder and lightning as a thunderstorm ripped through some areas in Hubei, the official Xinhua news agency said late Tuesday.
Flooding and hail triggered by torrential rain have left 18 dead and 12 missing in southwestern Guizhou Province. A total of 166 people were injured and more than 4,600 have been evacuated since the flooding and hail began to hit Guiyang City, capital of Guizhou, on Sunday night. Torrential rain hit nine townships in the Guizhou county of Wangmo on Monday evening that caused the flood, Xinhua news agency quoted the Emergency Response Office of the local government as saying. The flood destroyed 58 houses, two bridges, a highway, and power poles, causing blackouts in eight townships, affecting 26,000 people, Xinhua said. According to the Wuhan Meteorological Observatory, the weather will improve on Wednesday with rising temperatures.
Yingshan County had received as much as 29.1 millimetres of rain within an hour on Tuesday. The prospect of bad weather in Sichuan -- struck by an earthquake two weeks ago -- has threatened to hamper recovery efforts. The quake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale has killed more than 67,000 people and tens of thousands more are still missing.
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