Floods in china Nearly 2 million people were displaced in Shanxi province
Torrential rain last week led to houses collapsing and triggered landslides across more than 70 districts and cities in the province. Heavy rainfall is hampering rescue efforts, officials said.
The flooding comes less than three months after extreme rains in Henan province left more than 300 dead. China's Meteorological Administration also told local media that heavy and prolonged rainfall and storms hamper rescue efforts.
Authorities told the Xinhua news agency that more than 120,000 people have been urgently transferred and resettled and that 17,000 homes have collapsed across Shanxi province. According to the state-run Global Times, four police officers have died as a result of a landslide, although information about other casualties has not been released.
It added that the Shanxi flooding may have been worse than the floods in Henan earlier this year. Shanxi's provincial capital Taiyuan saw average rainfall of around 185.6mm last week, compared with 25mm in October between 1981 and 2010.
Rescuers in Taiyuan reportedly used megaphones to tell stranded people: "Hold the children above your head, the elderly and women are given priority to go ashore. Don't panic, everyone will be rescued."
Shanxi is a central coal-producing province, and the Chinese government was forced to halt operations at mines and chemical factories due to the rain.
China is already facing an energy shortage which has caused power cuts. The government has been limiting electricity usage at ports and factories.
The local government said it had suspended output at 60 coal mines, 372 non-coal mines and 14 dangerous chemical factories in the province. Operations had already been stopped at 27 other coal mines on October 4th. Shanxi is also home to several ancient monuments which are at significant risk from the severe rainfall.
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