Heavy Rains in China Claim 128 Lives

Heavy rains have left 128 people dead and 42 others missing in 11 Chinese provinces over the last six days, with more damage feared from a typhoon that is expected to hit the country's south- eastern coast this week. 
Continuous rainfall since last Thursday has destroyed 41,000 houses and forced the evacuation of more than 1.34 million people in the 11 regions, mostly along the Yangtze River and its distributaries, including Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Hubei and Jiangsu, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs yesterday. 
Water levels in Taihu Lake, close to Shanghai, are at their highest since 1954, the Beijing News reported, adding the area faces a "serious" risk of flooding if China's first typhoon this year, Nepartak, hits nearby on Friday. 
Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated in downpours that have left at least 128 people dead and 42 others missing in 11 provincial Chinese regions since Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported. 
The Ministry of Civil Affairs estimated an economic loss of 38.16 billion yuan (5.73 bln U.S. dollars) from the rainfall in the 11 provincial regions. 
The National Meteorological Center has forecast heavy rain in parts of the Anhui, Hubei, Guangxi and Sichuan regions until 2 p.m. of Wednesday.

Source: QNA