Flooding inundates historical town, stops trains

CHANGSHA - Continuous rain in central China's Hunan province has flooded the historical town of Fenghuang and forced train operations to be suspended.

As of Wednesday morning, more than 1,200 rescuers were helping to move tourists and residents out of the ancient town, said a spokesman with the Fenghuang county flood control and drought relief headquarters.

50,000 evacuated in Central China downpours

A match-making festival scheduled for July 20 has been canceled and organizers have joined flood control efforts, he said.

As of Tuesday, more than 120,000 locals and tourists were evacuated, and more than 4,000 shops in the town were affected.

A shoe shop owner surnamed Kuang said the flooding was the worst the town had experienced. His shop was soaked.

"The floods came so quickly that I didn't have time to move the shoes," he said, estimating his losses would exceed 100,000 yuan (16,110 US dollars).

In Fenghuang's neighboring Mayang county, a power substation was flooded. Most of the county seat has been left without electricity since Tuesday. Repair work is under way.

Nearly 80,000 residents have been relocated following heavy rainstorms since Monday, according to the county's flood control authorities.

Affected by the rainstorms in Hunan, 44 trains scheduled from Wednesday to Friday have been canceled, Guangzhou Railway (Group) Corporation confirmed.