A man walks on the handrail of a staircase at a flooded street in southwest China's Chongqing municipality July 17, 2007.
Thirty-five people are dead and 11 are missing as rainstorms continue to lash southwest China's Chongqing municipality, according to the municipal flood control office.
More than 5.12 million people were affected by the rainstorms.
About 152,750 hectares of farmland were damaged, and 1,854 cattle killed, with losses exceeding 2.14 billion yuan (US$282 million).
Torrential rain that has lashed the municipality since Monday dropped more than 50 mm of rainfall in half of Chongqing's 40 districts and counties by Wednesday noon, with the maximum standing at 408.2 mm in the Chenjiaqiao township, where more than 6,000 people have been evacuated.
Rainstorms also damaged 35 reservoirs, damaged 455 km of roadbed, destroyed 44.8 km of power lines and 14.3 km of communication lines.
The rainstorms caused eight colleges' libraries and dormitory buildings flooded.
Two prisons, Baigongguan and Zhazidong, which were used by the Kuomintang to hold Communist Party members before 1949 and have since become tourism destinations, were flooded. Repairs would take about three months, said sources with the culture, radio and television bureau of Chongqing.
Local government has allocated 2.5 million yuan (US$328,947) to disaster relief, while 5,249 soldiers with 47 vessels and 200 vehicles were dispatched to rescue people from flood-hit areas.
In Sichuan Province, 2.62 million people were affected by rainstorms that are forecast to continue tomorrow.
The adjacent Guizhou Province saw 3.05 million people affected by rainstorms and ensuing disasters, which have killed 60 people since the beginning of May.
By Wednesday, heavy rains have ruined 110,000 hectares of crops and resulted in direct losses of 910 million yuan (US$119.7 million).
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A black car submerged along a flooded road.
A public bus is trapped in a flooded street.
(Xinhua News Agency July 19, 2007)
