Tropical storm Bilis faded yesterday but the death toll across
the country continued to rise, hitting 204. Lingering rain
triggered landslides that swept away homes, Xinhua News Agency
reported.
The latest deaths occurred in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Tuesday,
when landslides swept through Qinzhou killing 13 people including
three children and an elderly woman, Xinhua said. The deaths
brought the toll in Guangxi to 25. Hardest-hit was the inland
province of Hunan, where at least 92 people have been
killed since Friday. Elsewhere, 43 people have been killed in
coastal Fujian Province and 44 in neighboring Guangdong.
The storm was dying down as it moved west to Guizhou and Yunnan provinces in south China, Xinhua said.
But fierce heat is expected to follow in the coming week, with
temperatures expected to reach 40?℃? in Hunan and
39?℃? in Fujian.
Losses of 8 billion yuan (US$1 billion) were estimated for
Guangdong and 3 billion yuan (US$375 million) for Fujian. In
poverty-stricken Guangxi, officials said the storm had cost 1.21
billion yuan (US$151 million). No figure was given for losses in
Hunan.
(China Daily July 20, 2006)