At least 37 people have been killed by floods, landslides and mudflows caused by thunderstorms in Southwest China since Monday, the civil affairs ministry said yesterday.

Chongqing received 266.6 mm of rainfall between Monday night and Tuesday afternoon, the largest volume since records began in 1892, the municipal meteorological bureau said yesterday.

The previous record was set on July 21, 1996, when the city received 206.1 mm of rainfall, it said.

Heavy rain continued to fall in the city yesterday morning. The sky was gloomy and traffic was at a standstill on most urban roads.

Landslides and mud-rock flows that hit 29 of Chongqing's 40 counties had claimed 32 lives as of yesterday.

Twelve others were missing and hundreds more were injured.

Despite a short intermission in the afternoon, local meteorological stations have forecast more heavy rain for the next two days.

The deluge has paralyzed traffic in and around the city and played havoc with the electricity, telecommunications and transport systems, making some suburban counties "isolated islands".

"The mountainous city is turning into a water city," a statement from the ministry said.

The heavy rainfall is in sharp contrast to the severe draught that struck the landlocked city last year. That too was a first for 100 years.

The disastrous weather has also wreaked havoc in the adjacent Sichuan Province, where five people have been killed by landslides and lightning.

In addition, in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Tuesday, the worst rainstorm since records began, disrupted traffic and communications, leaving 1,000 people stranded and thousands of head of livestock dead.

The regional capital Urumqi received 63.2 mm of rainfall between 6 pm on Monday and 11 am on Tuesday, the largest in its history, the municipal meteorological bureau said.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily 07/19/2007 page4)