9 missing in China

Nine people are missing in central Japan China Heavy rains have triggered landslides, officials said on Sunday, as flooding and heat waves continued across much of the country.

Five people were rescued from under rubble at a highway construction site in central Hubei province where an accident occurred on Saturday. The crew continued excavating in hopes of finding more survivors.

Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated to shelters as severe flooding hits northern, central and southeastern China. Seasonal floods occur regularly in China, but this year’s rise in water levels has been accompanied by an unusually long period of high temperatures.

With more than 4 million square miles of land, China has been hit simultaneously by heat waves, floods and droughts this summer.

Cities are building air raid shelters for residents to escape the heat.

Earlier this week, the city of Beijing had temperatures above 95 degrees Fahrenheit for more than nine days in a row, a streak not seen since 1961.

Authorities issued health alerts and temporarily halted outdoor work in areas such as the Tokyo metropolitan area, but many workers continued to deliver parcels, lay bricks and haul packages out of fear of a sluggish economic recovery.

2 deaths so far Beijing It is believed to be the result of extreme heat. Health officials said Sunday that a tour guide had died of heatstroke after collapsing during a tour of the Summer Palace, a sprawling 18th-century imperial garden. Last month, a woman also died of heat stroke in Beijing.

Health officials in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, said Thursday that there were records of deaths attributed to the heat, but gave no details.

Chinese cities, such as the southwestern metropolis Chongqing, known for its scorching heat, have long used air defense tunnels as public cooling centers.

Shelters now often have seating areas, water, snacks, heat medicine, and in some cases Wi-Fi, TVs, and ping-pong tables.

Weather officials warned Thursday that a severe drought in northern China is threatening crops and stressing overworked power grids. Meanwhile, thousands of people have been evacuated in the past few weeks as severe flooding hit southern China.

The average temperature of the earth is New unofficial record Thursday is the third such milestone in a week already rated as the hottest on record.