Transport Disrupted As Landslides & Flood Hit Central China

Hunan Province: Floods and landslides severed a rail artery and swept away houses and roads in a county in Hunan province on the weekend. A tunnel on the Jiaoliu rail line was blocked by debris when a hillside in Guzhang county collapsed on Sunday morning.

Trains operating on the line – the main north-south link ­between Jiaozuo in Henan and Liuzhou in Guangxi – were either cancelled or rerouted, the Guangzhou Railway Administration said in a statement on its social media account. Rail authorities were working to clear the debris but it was not known when the line would ­reopen.The county was drenched by up to 200mm of rain, triggering landslides that also damaged homes and roads, and blocked a provincial expressway.

In Morong township, more than 70 tourists were trapped at a flooded scenic site, China News Service reported. Local authorities said more than 650 people from the most vulnerable areas were evacuated before the landslide. In all, 244,000 residents in five villages were affected, according to ­Hunan’s official news portal.

Seventeen houses collapsed and roughly 70 more were damaged, according to preliminary estimates. Rescuers and heavy machinery were sent to repair roads. No casualty figures were given. The Yangtze River Basin has reported its worst floods since 1998, leaving hundreds dead and missing. More than 8,000 residents had to be evacuated after a dyke was breached in Huangmei county, Hubei.

The gap was about 70 metres wide, the local flood control office said. More than 700 soldiers were sent to close the breach.