Officials at the State Flood Control and Drought Relief
Headquarters Wednesday urged caution following floods at Hongze
Lake in east China's Jiangsu Province and the middle and lower
reaches of the Yangtze River.
Latest information from the headquarters showed that the water
levels of all major hydraulic observation stations along the river
continued to exceed danger levels.
The Huaihe River mainstream flood crest is approaching the Hongze
Lake, prompting its water level to keep rising.
As
of 8 am yesterday, the water level at Hongze Lake, located at the
lower reaches of the flooding Huaihe River, has reached 14.14
meters, 0.64 meters higher than the danger level and 0.06 meters
higher than the record in 1991 when Huaihe River also experienced
huge floods.
Some 68,000 people living by Hongze Lake are being urgently
evacuated in preparation for the diversion of water from Hongze
Lake, China's fourth biggest freshwater lake.
Zhang Zhitong, vice-director of the headquarters said another flood
diversion area has been prepared, which will be used to contain
flood water discharged from Hongze Lake.
The China Central Meteorological Station yesterday issued a storm
warning for the Huaihe River and the middle and lower reaches of
the Yangtze River.
The warning, in effect from noon yesterday till noon tomorrow, has
been issued in view of the torrential rains and strong winds
forecast for the valleys.
The affected areas include the northern part of Hunan Province, the
southern and eastern parts of Hubei Province, the southeast of
Henan Province in Central China, and most areas of Anhui and
Jiangsu provinces in the east.
More than 1.05 million hectares of crop land have been reported to
be waterlogged in northern Jiangsu, of which 402,600 hectares
seriously affected and 64,400 hectares would give no yields this
year.
Nanjing's 600-year-old city wall has collapsed in three places
after continuous torrential rain.
More than 7,000 fixed telephone lines had been shut off after
sluice gates were opened to divert flood water from the Huaihe
River from July 3 in Anhui.
(China Daily July 10, 2003)