The continuous rainfall in the Shanxi Central Province caused the evacuation of 120,000 people, while the number of victims amounts to 1.7 million, the official Xinhua news agency announced today.
The provincial emergency department also reported the destruction of 190,000 hectares of cultivation and collapse lands of more than 17,000 homes.
Likewise, the Shanxi Meteorological Office noticed that more precipitation is expected in the southern part of this province, which has a population of about 35 million inhabitants spread over a surface similar to that of Uruguay.
From 8:00 pm (12.00 GMT) from October 2 to 8.00 (1.00 GMT) of the day 7, rainfall reached 119 liters per square meter, figure three times higher than the October average in the province, according to the office
.
Xinhua also reported today from the rupture of a prey last Saturday at the Fenhe, a tributary of the Yellow River that recorded its second largest grown in almost 40 years.
The rains also caused damage to a part of the wall of the ancient city of Pingyao, declared a UNESCO World Heritage and popular tourist destination.
Last week, the provincial authorities already reported the death of at least five people by constant rains.
The neighboring province of Shaanxi also suffered last week the effect of persistent rainfall, which provoked the evacuation of more than 50,000 citizens in the province, according to Xinhua.
Recently, the Chinese National Meteorological Center reported that the rains in the northern part of China (which includes Shanxi) marked a “historical record” last September.
Last July, the center of China suffered intense rainfall that left more than 300 dead in Henan province, according to the balance of local authorities.