Thirty-one people had been killed, eight were missing and 171
had been injured by 11 AM on Thursday as rainstorms continued to
rage in east China's Shandong Province, according to the Chinese
Ministry of Civil Affairs.
By Thursday morning, 5,718 households had been flooded and 135
houses destroyed in cities that included Jinan, Qingdao, Yantai and
Zibo, the ministry reported.
It has been the strongest rainfall this year in Shandong
Province. Jinan, the provincial capital, received a record 180 mm
of rainfall within three hours from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM on
Wednesday, the city's meteorological bureau said.
The rainstorm cut off traffic, electricity and water supply for
three hours in Jinan. There is no report yet concerning economic
losses, the numbers of affected residents and statistics regarding
collapsed houses amid the rainfall, according to the local
government.
(China.org.cn, Xinhua News Agency July 19, 2007)
