Tuesday, June 17, 2008

More than 100 dead in China floods


China is suffering from yet another natural disaster in a year that was supposed to have brought good luck. Amongst many Chinese the number 8 is supposed to bring luck and good fortune, but 2008 has only brought misery to millions. In a year that has stranded millions of migrant workers in snow, brought riots in several provinces, a troubled Olympic torch relay and a devastating earthquake which killed near to 100,000 people, China is now struggling to deal with torrential rain and flooding. At least 20 provinces have been hit by the heavy downpours and more than 67,000 homes have been destroyed. Sichuan province, which has already suffered from a massive earthquake, is now seeing widespread flooding and in Guangdong more than 20 are reported dead with at least 100 reported killed across the rest of the country. More than a million have been displaced since the heavy rain began a week ago and more rain is forecast [CNN / BBC / Xinhua].

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