China Flooding Turns Off The Water Supply To Northeast China

Torrential rains have damaged water pipelines leaving 300,000 people without tap water in Tonghua, an industrial city in northeast China's Jilin Province, Xinhua news agency quoted Head of the public effectiveness bureau in Tonghua Wang Ruimin said.

He said four water pipelines had been damaged since Sunday, cutting water supply to the whole city. Wang said although the bureau has mobilized 300 workers to modernize the pipelines, there is no deadline is given as to when water supply would be resumed.

He said flood water had gushed into Tonghua's water plant at the Changliu Reservoir after a segment of the embankments was breached Saturday.The city authorities are working to make certain adequate supply of bottled water and food. Tap water supply to some areas in Baishan City and Antu County had also been disrupted for the same reason. Floods and rain-triggered landslides have left more than 100 people dead or missing in Jilin Province over the past few days, regional civil affairs officials said Sunday.

Jilin is the latest Chinese province plagued by floods, after torrential rains have lashed the area since Wednesday. About 37,000 houses have collapsed and 125,000 others have been damaged while 592,000 residents have been evacuated, the provincial civil associations department said in its latest disaster update Sunday. Vegetable supplies in Baishan City were limited in several marketplaces. Much farm produce had been damaged by the floods, said vendors.

In Antu County, many townships had suffered blackouts as floods had damaged the local power facilities.