Almost 700 dead in China storms

BEIJING Deaths from floods, lightning and landslides across China this summer have reached nearly 700, state media said on Monday, with experts warning that global warming is likely to fuel more violent weather.

Over the weekend alone, fierce storms and hail killed 17 people across four provinces.

Ten died in the central province of Hubei, where rain and hail have added to swollen waters along the country's longest river, the Yangtze, and its main tributary, the Han.

In the northwestern province of Shaanxi, five died in floods that cut off roads around Shangluo, Xinhua news agency said.

A hail storm on Saturday hit parts of the eastern province Anhui, where millions of residents have been grappling with the threat of the swollen Huai River for the past month, killing one person and injuring three, Xinhua said.

Flood waters on the Huai have begun to retreat, but many thousands of people remained stationed along its embankments to prevent breaches, it added.

One person died in a lightning strike in weekend storms in the flood-battered southwestern province of Sichuan, Xinhua said.

At least 3,000 ship-borne tourists along the Yangtze had to switch to buses on Monday as flood water from its upper reaches in the country's southwest forced the closure of locks at the massive Three Gorges Dam, Xinhua said.

The Xinjiang Daily said deluges bringing landslides and land subsidence had cut highways throughout the far northwestern region. One would take about two months to repair.
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