NE China floods in typhoon's wake

Rainstorms and floods caused by Typhoon Damrey, the 10th typhoon of the season, lashed Northeast China's Liaoning province early on Saturday morning, forcing the evacuation of 155,000 people, according to Liao- ning Provincial Department of Water Resources.

People are moved to safety in Gaizhou, Liaoning province, on Saturday after flooding triggered by torrential rain brought by Typhoon Damrey. The 10th typhoon of the year disrupted service on three railways in the province on Saturday morning, local authorities said. Ma Chengguang / for China Daily

One person was killed and another five were missing Friday night in Dalian when a bridge they were reportedly crossing was swept away by flood waters, the local government said.

According to a preliminary report as of 2 pm Saturday, 1,649 buildings, 240 bridges and 15 dams collapsed.

The southeastern part of Liaoning received 100 to 220 mm of rainfall as of 4 am on Saturday, with one area in the city of Gaizhou receiving 237 mm, according to the provincial meteorological center.

"Roads to my village were flooded with water. I called my parents dozens of times this afternoon but I couldn't get through," said Huang Dehua.

Her parents told her on Saturday morning by phone that the water and electricity supply was cut off. The water in the streets was nearly 2 meters deep. Many cars were submerged.

"I think their cell phone was out of power. I wanted to go back home to see whether they are safe, but the roads were blocked," said Huang, crying.

According to the local government in Gaizhou, the water level in the city had dropped about 1 meter on Saturday evening and the flood was expected to continue to subside.

Local authorities cut off the power supply to avoid electric-shock accidents. The government also organized several rescue teams that used assault boats to evacuate people in danger.

The flood also disrupted railways and highways in the province.

A major local railway from Shenyang to Dalian was suspended after a section was submerged under water at about 2 am, the Shenyang railway bureau announced. The disruption has led to the delay of more than 10 trains.

All the trains scheduled to depart from Dalian before 6 am Sunday were canceled and railway stations in Shenyang and Dalian stopped selling tickets on Saturday afternoon.

"It's the first time for such a situation since the station was built in 1990," said Zhuang Yuan, a staff member of Shenyang north railway station.

The station opened 15 refund windows on Saturday, and each window had more than 200 people waiting to cash in their tickets.

"I didn't expect the rain would be so heavy that it even stopped trains," said Lin Lin, who had planned to go to Dalian for a weekend holiday but was waiting for a ticket refund.

Flooding also caused the collapse of a railway bed in a section of the Shenyang-Shanhaiguan line. Hundreds of travelers were trapped on their way. Dozens of boxes of instant noodles and water were delivered to the travelers by the Beijing railway bureau.

Thirty-six roads and highways in Liaoning were damaged by the flood in different degrees as of 11 am Saturday, the Liaoning transportation department announced.

The local meteorological center predicted more heavy rains on Sunday in most of the cities in the province such as Shenyang, Anshan, Jinzhou, Liao- yang, Panjin and Huludao.

Contact the writers at liuce@chinadaily.com.cn and wuyong@chinadaily.com.cn