Death toll from rain in China’s Henan reaches 56

The death toll in China’s Henan province has risen to 56 and five people are reported missing. According to the provincial emergency management department, rescue efforts are still underway at the Jingguang Road tunnel in the drainage underpass provincial capital Zhengzhou, where several vehicles were stranded since Tuesday.

The department said that there is still a large amount of water in the tunnel, where casualties have been reported.

The exact number of casualties due to this is not yet confirmed.
More than 7.5 million people have been affected so far by the heavy rains that began in China on July 16 and the floods that followed. About 576,600 hectares of crops have been damaged and more than 3,800 homes have collapsed across the province, causing direct economic losses of more than 13.9 billion yuan ($2 billion).
According to the department, around 920,000 local residents have been evacuated to safer places.

China has extended emergency aid and started reconstruction efforts to ensure the supply of key goods to the province.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, a total of 19,900 tons of cooking oil, 19,700 tons of dairy products, 3,740 tons of rice and 55,000 cans of bottled water have been sent to Henan.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) has deployed another team of 510 firefighters with expertise in water rescue in the flood-affected areas.

The provincial communications administration said on Friday that telecommunications had been restored in urban areas after repairs to more than 2,200 base stations.