The Social Service Department of CCC&TSPM issued a notice on intercession for the mountain torrent disaster in Datong County, Xining City, Qinghai Province.
"According to CCTV news reports, a sudden heavy rainfall, starting 22:25, on August 17 lashed Datong County, Xining City, Qinghai Province triggering flash floods and mudslides, and causing rivers to change courses. A total of 6,245 residents from 1,517 households in six villages of two townships have been affected by the natural calamity. Upon verification after further search and rescue, as of 12:00 P.M. on the 18th, the death toll has risen to 16, with another 36 still missing," as mentioned in the notice which was released on August 19.
"Once the disaster occurred, the local government immediately responded, organizing rescue forces to the site to carry out rescue efforts, including search and rescue, transferring and resettling affected people, checking for hidden dangers, treating the injured, and repairing roads, communications and power facilities. At present, the onsite command has been established. More than 2,000 personnel from the armed police, public security, emergency response, health, and other departments, as well as rural cadres, together with villagers of surrounding townships, and over 160 vehicles have been dispatched to actively participate in rescue and relief efforts which are progressing in an orderly manner," it adds.
"It is reported that the total amount of the precipitation was rather small, less than 50 mm, but very short and intense, almost all pouring down within an hour. In addition, Datong County is located in the Beichuan River Valley on the western edge of the Loess Plateau whose topsoil is relatively soft with obvious collapsibility. With fairly deep incisions and large drops in the local river valley, extremely destructive flash floods were generated in the mountains under extremely heavy rainfall. The flash floods occurring at night increased the difficulty in activating the early warning system for people to escape.”
"In addition, the strong subtropical high pressure will remain till the middle of next week. The rain belt of the subtropical frontal zone will still be significantly moving northward for the time being, including central Gansu, Ningxia, northern Shaanxi, central and northern Shanxi to Liaoning, which is all facing multiple rounds of heavy rain. Many areas that are also located on the Loess Plateau need special precautions against geological disasters such as flash floods and landslides."
At the end of the notice, it says, "Let's pray for the peace of that county, for the compatriots who are deeply affected by the disaster, for the front-line rescuers, and for the post-disaster recovery and reconstruction. We will hold a moment of silence for the deceased and hope that the missing persons will be rescued as soon as possible. "
- Translated by Shuya Wang
