Zhengzhou expected to resume normal urban operations soon

Facilitated by thousands of people mobilized across China, the Henan provincial capital Zhengzhou is expected to get urban operations back to normal soon from a deadly deluge that has claimed 51 lives so far, local authorities said on Friday.

As of Friday noon, the direct economic losses caused by the torrential rains in the city have climbed to 65.5 billion yuan ($10 billion). The wide-spreading deluge has forced the relocation of almost 400,000 people, it said in a media release.

Thousands of people from other parts of the country have joined local disaster relief endeavors to bring production and life back to normal, it said. 

Together with 5,290 soldiers, 30,000 police officers, 164,000 volunteers and over 400,000 officials and Communist Party of China members, over 5,000 rescuers from outside Henan are working at the forefront of disaster alleviation work in the city. 

The city has seen its communications system essentially restored. It is expected to completely resume water supply on Sunday and restore the operations of all tunnels and flyovers in the small hours of Saturday, it said. 

Facilitated by over 10,000 technicians from 24 provincial regions across the country, the 3,600 employees with local power grid companies are working hard to restore the power supply. 

The city also has managed to guarantee the supply of food and water and most companies have been in operation, it added.