Authorities in southwest China's Chongqing City have confirmed three people were killed in natural disasters triggered by torrential rains between Saturday and Monday, Xinhua reported. Also damaged were 4,765 rural houses in Qianjiang, in the southeastern part of Chongqing, the worst hit area. Lightning strike also destroyed a 35- kilovolt power transmission line in Yunyang County in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, cutting water supplies to 100,000 residents in urban areas of Yunyang. Water supplies were not restored until early Monday, said local officials. Liu De, chief of the municipal weather service, said the downpour began Saturday. Zhen'an in Kaixian County had been monitored as having a rainfall of 253.6 mm. He said the rainy weather alleviated the long-standing autumn drought in most areas of the city.
