Party members take lead in fighting flood in central China

Members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) have taken the lead in disaster relief work in flood-plagued central China.

Ai Tanming, an official of Taiyuan village of central Hubei Province, led a group of 32 CPC members in search and rescue efforts to locate missing villagers.

"At this critical moment, local villagers regard party members and officials as the most reliable force," Ai said.

All CPC members in the area have been organized to join in the disaster relief work after a new round of rain and floods battered central China Thursday night and Friday.

Torrential rains triggered floods and landslides that toppled homes and destroyed river embankments in Hubei Province, killing 29 people and leaving at least 10 others missing.

So far, more than 127,500 people have been forced to evacuate their homes, and the floods have caused direct economic losses of 866 million yuan (133 million U.S. dollars) in the province, according to local government on Friday.

Most of the deaths were reported in the city of Xianning, which was hit by heavy rainfall from 8 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday. In the city's Tongcheng County, which was virtually submerged, precipitation topped 300 mm within four hours, a record volume in 200 years.

Taiyuan village is located in Tongcheng County.
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Source: Xinhua

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