云南震区遭遇暴风雨

阿邱

Weather forecasters say strong rains will sweep the quake zone in Yunnan Province, increasing the risk of more flooding and landslides.

Rescuers are still rushing to drain a barrier lake, formed by landslides and debris after the 6.8-magnitude earthquake last week.

Meantime, rescuers have built a temporary helicopter landing site in the worst-hit Qiaojia County.

Local farmer Dai Hongxiang cut down all of his crops to provide space for the landing site.

"If people cannot live anymore, is there any meaning to have these crops? We have to ensure people's lives first, and only then the crops will be useful."

As all damaged roads in the quake zone have reopened, more relief materials are arriving in places where aid is urgently needed.

Local official Jiang Xianlin says they finally have enough tents.

"We have made sure that every villager has a tent. We wrote a number and the name of the householder on each tent to make it easy for people to find their tents and ensure that we didn't miss anyone."

The death toll from the recent earthquake in Yunnan stands at 617.