Apocalyptic images, city under water - at least 12 dead VIDEO / PHOTO

Apocalyptic images, city under water - at least 12 dead VIDEO / PHOTO

Large areas of land in the central Chinese province of Henan were under water.

The capital, Zhengzhou, was hit the hardest after being hit by the deadly rains, as meteorologists said, "worst in the last 1.000 years".

At least 12 people died as a result of the floods. Zhengzhou is a city of 12 million inhabitants on the banks of the Yellow River, and 100.000 people have been evacuated to safety, the Xinhua news agency reported, quoting the local government. A large number of members of the army and 6.000 firefighters were deployed to the disaster zone for rescue. Unprecedented rainstorms caused floods, and a dam collapsed not far from the city. Hundreds of people were trapped in buildings and hotels. Rescuers have safely evacuated over 100 children and the elderly, and rescue and evacuation efforts are still ongoing.

Numerous trains across Henan have been canceled, some highways have been closed, and flights have been suspended or delayed.

From Saturday evening to Tuesday afternoon, 617.1 milliliters of rain per square meter fell, which is almost at the level of the annual average of 640.8 milliliters.