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China: Flood: 2000/05/31-2000/06/05 Country Information on DRR

Period 2000/05/31-2000/06/05
Country or District China
Event Type Flood
Outline Disaster Situation Throughout the evening of 31 May 2000 heavy, storm-induced rain fell on Gansu province in northern China. The storm prevailed from 7.00 p.m. until 10.00 p.m. local time. After fifty minutes of downpour rainfall measured 110 mm in Awu township. That night the River Ming flowed at a record 677 cubic metres per second, the highest flow measurement for 150 years. The media report that this storm is one in a series of natural disasters occurring between 31 May and 6 June 2000. According to media sources, flashfloods caused mudslides and landslides which killed 60 people in Sichuan province on 5 June, and the following day Guizhou province to the south of Gansu and Sichuan suffered a mudslide caused by torrential rain and responsible for the death of 11 more people.
Summary
Human Impact Physical Impact Others
Oxfam 2000/06/15
According to the China Daily, floods killed at least 38 people and leaving six others missing in June. Besides, on 31 May, floods in Dangchang and Minxian county of Gansu Province killed 34 people and injured 183 people according to the report issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Some 2,148 houses have collapsed and 13,000 hectares of crops destroyed. A further 180,000 people were affected in the two counties. Direct economic losses were estimated at 178 million yuan (US$21.4 million).
OCHA Situation Report No. 1 2000/06/09
Casualties:According to the official report issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of China, 34 people were killed in the 31 May floods in Gansu province. Another 183 people were injured in the storm.
Affected Population:The floods affected 154,000 people in 201 villages.
Preliminary Government statistics relate that 2,148 houses collapsed as a result of the floods in Gansu province, while 3,641 houses were damaged. In all, 13,000 hectares of crops were affected by the storm; of these, 3,000 hectares were totally destroyed and 10,000 hectares were severely damaged. The electrical power supply in Dangchang township was interrupted for eleven hours. This was the direct result of the inundation of three hydropower stations. Roads, bridges, dams and water supply systems in the County all suffered varying degrees of damage.

Direct economic losses have been estimated at CNY 0.17 billion (USD 20 million).

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Report/Articles

Oxfam 2000/06/15
For the drought, working teams from different government departments at various levels initiated assessment and relief responses. They tried different approaches to lessen the severity of the disaster including the better use of existing water, digging wells and channels.

OCHA Situation Report No. 1 2000/06/09
Assessment/Needs The situation in the affected district of Longnan is now stable. There has been no request for international assistance, and the inhabitants themselves are continuing with the clean-up operation, with repairs to damaged facilities and a return to normal living conditions. Response Local government leaders responded immediately to the disaster, as did representatives from the Ministry of Civil Affairs for Gansu province. Where necessary, people were quickly evacuated from the flood-stricken area. On 2 June the provincial government sent a relief team to the area, under the leadership of the Director General of the provincial Civil Affairs Department. The team assisted the local people in dealing with the emergency. Tents were provided for evacuees and were pitched outside the danger zone.