Heavy rain and flooding for the US and China by Kirsty McCabe
After the recent reports of landslides and heavy rain along the western fringes of the United States, it is now central areas that have joined the list of weather battered states. Over the past few days severe thunderstorms have raged from west to east causing widespread disruption, localised flooding and sparking many tornado warnings.
The storms were born over Denver, Colorado late on Friday giving heavy rain and large hail. There were reports of golf ball sized hail in some areas and within minutes many places were flooded. Vehicles were trapped in rushing water with depths reported to be up to the car windows, and at a nearby driving range golfers were trapped by deep water.
The storms then quickly moved into Kansas where one man was swept away by rushing floodwater. Luckily he was rescued by fire-fighters.
These storms are expected to move north and spread into Canada this weekend.
At the same time another line of severe thunderstorms swept through the northern plains. A night of strong winds, heavy rain, hail and tornados caused severe flooding in Bismarck, North Dakota. Rainfall measured 6 inches (152mm) and strong gusts of wind up to 70 mph were reported. Three tornados were spotted in Morton and Hettinger but remarkably there were no injuries or damage in the area.
Also suffering from the impact of severe weather is China. Four days of torrential rain has killed at least 88 people and destroyed more than 70,000 homes in Hunan and some western provinces. The flooding has affected nearly 6 million people and caused millions of pounds worth of damage. The disaster has forced the evacuation of more than 215,000 people.
Telecommunications, transport routes and water supplies have all been cut by the floods making it difficult for search and rescue teams to reach the worst hit areas.
China suffers frequent floods and droughts each year. Summer floods and landslides killed 1,343 people last year according to government statistics - the lowest for some time.
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