China Floods Kill 20 as 900 Snakes Escape from Reptile Farm

Beijing: At least 20 people died and 331 others injured in one of China's worst floods, which also created a snake scare as around 900 slithering reptiles escaped from a farm which collapsed under the force of surging waters, authorities said on Tuesday.

The extreme weather in several places in China since Monday night caused havoc, they said.

President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for all-out efforts to organise flood emergency rescue, disaster relief and treatment of the injured, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

He stressed the need to strengthen monitoring, early warning, and emergency preparedness and response. He also urged solid efforts in disaster prevention and relief work to ensure the safety of people's lives and property.

The snakes escaped from a farm in Hengzhou, which experienced heavy thunderstorms and floods on Monday night.

A viral video showed people standing in waist-deep water with bamboo sticks, trying to capture the snakes, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

Village official, Wu Zhi, told Red Star News portal that most of the snakes were not venomous and a team of 10 had been organised to capture them with fish nets and stun guns.

He warned villagers not to try to catch snakes by hand if they found any in their homes.

Heavy rainfall had caused 62 rivers across the country to rise above flood warning levels, central authorities said, with the Qingshui River in Guangxi recording the biggest flood in its monitoring history.

Tornadoes, thunderstorms and high-velocity gales hit the eastern part of Hubei Province on Monday night, killing 11 people, with one reported missing, according to provincial emergency management authorities.

The severe weather also injured at least 331 people across three communities. Over 400 residents were evacuated to safe places. The severe weather destroyed 22 buildings and damaged another 4,855, according to the report.

Also, four people died and eight others were missing in record-breaking rainfall and the ensuing floods in parts of Nanning, capital city of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Over 93,300 people were affected by the disaster and 54,460 evacuated, officials said.

The regional hydrology centre warned that elevated water levels would persist in several river sections over the next 24 hours. The casualties and evacuations were caused by torrential rains due to Typhoon Maysak, the report said.

Separately, a landslide struck a township in Tanchang County, Longnan City, in northwest China's Gansu Province early on Tuesday, in which five people died.

A total of 33 people were buried beneath the debris. Rescuers said 21 people had been pulled out, but five of them died despite treatment, the Xinhua report said.

All-out search and rescue operations are underway for the other 12 missing people.