Over 170 Missing In Colorado Floods

By air and by land, the rescue of hundreds of
people stranded by epic US mountain flooding
has accelerated as debris-filled rivers became
muddy seas that extended into towns and
farms miles from the Rockies. Helicopters and hundreds of National Guard
troops on Saturday searched mountainous
terrain for people as food and water supplies
ran low in remote communities cut off since
Thursday. Thousands were being driven from their
homes in convoys. For the first time since the harrowing floods
began on Wednesday, Colorado got its first
broad view of the devastation. Floodwaters have affected parts of a 11,655-
square-kilometre area. A woman was missing and presumed dead
after witnesses saw floodwaters from the Big
Thompson River destroy her home, Larimer
County sheriff’s spokesman John Schulz said. “We’re sure there are going to be additional
homes that have been destroyed, but we
won’t know that for a while,” Schulz said. “I expect that we’re going to continue to
receive reports of confirmed missing and
confirmed fatalities throughout the next
several days.” Four people have been confirmed dead since
flooding began on Wednesday. More than 170 people remained unaccounted
for in Boulder County, but that number could
include people who are still stranded or who
escaped but have not made contact yet, said
Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle.
Still more rain was expected on Saturday. And the outlook for anyone who preferred to stay
behind was bleak: weeks without power,
mobile phone service or running water. “Essentially, what they were threatening us
with is, ‘If you stay here, you may be here for a
month,”‘ said 79-year-old Dean Hollenbaugh,
who was evacuated by helicopter from
Jamestown, north-west of Boulder.

Benue Government Needs N3billon to Control Flood

The Benue State government has said with the extent of flooding predicted to hit the State this year, it needed at least N3 billion to control and mitigate the expected devastation. Benue State Commissioner for Information, Justin Amase who made the revelation friday while fielding questions from newsmen in Makurdi said "though we got the sum of N500million from the federal government, the amount was like a drop in the ocean. "From available statistics, the state government would need close to N3billion to tackle some of the challenges in the aftermath of the flood, that was what prompted the decision of the state executive council to opt to invest the money in the provision of infrastructure and amenities in the devastated communities. "Some persons have questioned the wisdom in the decision of the state government, but the truth is that if the government had decided to share the money among the victims, none of them would have gotten more than N2,000. "That would have amounted to nothing to a people who lost valuables and property in that unfortunate disaster; hence the decision of the executive council to seek a better way of availing our people a reasonable form of palliative. "It may also interest you to know that outside the N500million relief donation from the federal government, Benue state government also made a counterpart contribution of N500million in order to boost the fund. "That is the more reason why I insist that it is not fair for anyone to ignorantly insinuate that the money has been misappropriated by the government when in actually sense the state government is making additional funds to aid work in the affected communities."

76 Killed In North East China Flood

A river flood triggered by torrential rains has
killed 76 people in a northeast Chinese city,
state media says. The official Xinhua News Agency said a
memorial service was held on Saturday in
the city of Fushun for the victims. It said another 88 people remained missing
as of Friday. It quoted Fushun mayor Luan Qingwei as
saying the flood was the worst in decades
for the city, where a river cuts through the
downtown area. A statement by Fushun’s municipal
government has declared Saturday as a
city-wide day of condolence and that all
public entertainment activities should be
halted for the day. Fushun, located in a mountainous area, has
been hit hard by floods ravaging China’s
northeastern provinces.
Dozens more have been reported killed by
floods elsewhere in the region.