Death toll in China flooding rises as nation braces for more

BEIJING (AFP) - The death toll from fierce rain storms and flooding in China continued to rise Saturday as the government scrambled to step up relief and prevention efforts, state press reported.

In eastern Shandong province, the toll rose to 40 dead and nine missing as of Friday night, following a week of record rains that deluged the provincial capital of Jinan and surrounding areas, Xinhua news agency said.

A record 180 millimeters of rain pummeled the city on Wednesday, snarling traffic and cutting off electricity and water supplies in the fiercest storms to hit the capital since 1916, meteorologists said.

The latest toll was up from 32 dead as of early Friday.

By Saturday more than 559,000 people had been affected by flooding in Shandong and 112,600 evacuated as water-levels on the nearby Yellow River and in surrounding reservoirs remained above warning lines, the report said.