Rains Add Trouble to Earthquake-Hit China

As if killing an estimated 80,000 people in the May 12 Sichuan earthquake were not enough, torrential rain has cut contact with more than 20,000 people in southwest China. Reuters reports at least eight people were killed and 38 more are missing in the rain which caused flash floods, cave-ins, and landslides in the Sichuan province.

The rains were partially caused by Typhoon Hagupit, which killed at least 8 people in the Philippines and 5 confirmed deaths in China. Wind speeds in the typhoon were difficult to measure because of the heavy rains, but new technology known as a hurricane radiometer may soon change the way hurricanes and typhoons are measured.A typhoon is the same as a hurricane and NASA tracked Hagupit from space. The storm hit the area as a Category 4 storm. More rainstorms, unrelated to the typhoon, are expected to continue this week.