The death toll in central China's unprecedented flash floods triggered after the heaviest rainfall in 1,000 years has reached 33 with eight people missing, officials said on Thursday.
The torrential rain has affected about three million people in Henan province and a total of 376,000 local residents have been relocated to safe places, the provincial emergency management department said.
Rainwater has damaged more than 215,200 hectares of crops, causing a direct economic loss of about 1.22 billion yuan (about USD 188.6 million), state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The massive floods, described by meteorologists as a once-in-a-lifetime event, has resulted in apocalyptic scenes in Henan and its provincial capital Zhengzhou, a metropolis of 12.6 million, with its public avenues and subway tunnels getting submerged with surging waters.
Twelve people were killed and five others injured when subway stations were hit by the floods. The victims died when their subway train was hit with rapidly rising floodwaters on Tuesday night. Two people were killed when a wall collapsed.
Videos posted on the Chinese social media showed petrified passengers trapped in subway trains clinging on to handlebars desperately waiting for help as floodwaters raised up to their necks.
Videos showed people trying to wade through floods in the downtown of the city while scores of cars and other vehicles washed away. Some videos also showed people falling into the massive cave-ins of the roads.
Rainwater poured into the subway tunnel of the city's Line Five, trapping an unknown number of passengers aboard a subway train.
Affected by the rainstorms, several residential communities in the city are without tap water and electricity. Hospitals also ran out of electricity, the Post reported.
The news has sent shock waves across the globe. Horrific visuals from the country are doing the rounds on social media. People across the globe are praying for the Chinese people.
Have a look.
