Torrential rains in Sichuan province have caused flooding in several cities in recent days, leading thousands of militia and reserve troops to be dispatched to the hardest hit areas.
The rains actually began last week, with the worst of it coming down in the last few days. Exact numbers regarding loss of life and property aren’t available yet, but the rains have given us two vivid image of the destruction.
The first comes from yesterday in Jiangyou in western Sichuan, where a 40-year-old bridge collapsed into the Panjiang River.
The Qinglian Bridge is about 200 meters long and 6 meters wide, according to Global Times, and was repaired after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.
As of noon, three people had been rescued and sent to a local hospital. They are in non-life-threatening conditions, sources said.
The exact number of people who fell into the river and the number of casualties has not yet been verified. Witnesses said a few sedans, a truck and several pedestrians had fallen into the river after the collapse.
Local fire authorities have dispatched 55 rescuers with six steamboats to search a 10-km stretch of the river downstream.
AP adds that six people remain missing.
And then there’s the above video, which is, quite simply, a house being washed away by water. You won’t get a much more vivid illustration of a flood’s power than that. One person was reportedly swept up along with the house.
Bridge collapse:
‘One person was reportedly swept up along with the house’. Errr, this is rather easily seen in the video…. The guy is standing on the top floor gallery and it’s pretty obvious that he’s in a really very bad spot when the house get swept away.
Sorry, meant to say “and died,” which isn’t as obvious – but yeah, very bad spot indeed.