3 dead, 13 missing in SW China typhoon-related disasters

KUNMING - Geological disasters triggered by Typhoon Hato have left three people dead and 13 others missing in Southwest China's Yunnan province, local authorities said Saturday.

As of 10 am Saturday, floods, landslides and mudslides had affected more than 410,000 people in 64 counties, forcing evacuation of nearly 8,400 people and causing the homes of 85 households to collapse, according to the provincial civil affairs department.

Hato was the 13th typhoon to hit China this year. It made landfall Wednesday in the city of Zhuhai, southern China's Guangdong province, and then moved west while losing strength.

It brought downpours to eastern and southern Yunnan from Wednesday to Friday. From 8 am Wednesday to 8 am Saturday, four monitoring stations in the province recorded precipitation of more than 250 millimeters.

Yunnan has activated an emergency response for disaster relief. Work teams and relief goods have been sent to affected areas.

In Yanjin county in the city of Zhaotong, rescuers are searching for six people who went missing after a flood caused by heavy rain.

The six, from two households, went missing around 7 pm Friday after their riverside homes in Shizi township collapsed in the flood, according to the county publicity office.

Downpours have affected nearly 150,000 people in eight counties in Zhaotong, causing landslides and mudslides.

In Yiliang county of Zhaotong, a lake formed after a landslide blocked a river at 5:40 am Friday. More than 2,000 residents living downstream of the lake were evacuated to safety before it burst two hours later.

Rescue workers are taking care of relocated residents and making plans to repair the lake.

In Jinping county, Honghe prefecture, six people remain missing after a mudslide destroyed the homes of seven rural households at 4:10 am Saturday.

Pakhar, the 14th typhoon this year, is forecast to land in Guangdong Sunday, with winds of 28 to 35 meters per second.

Hato killed nine people in Guangdong, which is still rebuilding in the aftermath of the disaster.

"It's impossible for us to restore everything in a short period of time, but the new typhoon is coming," said Xu Beilei, an disaster relief official in Zhuhai. "That's the biggest challenge. We're racing against time."