BEIJING, July 13 (Xinhua) -- The water level in
China's swollen Huaihe River began receding Friday afternoon but was still
nearly 3 meters above the high water mark in some places, according to the State
Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.
Cheng Dianlong, a senior headquarters official, said
that no individuals or organizations could afford to let their efforts taper off
as the danger is still serious.
The headquarters has ordered all three provincial
governments along the river -- Jiangsu, Anhui and Henan -- to take full
responsibility and continue to reinforce river bank patrols.
The Ministry of Communications has asked local
departments to keep a close eye on traffic and transport in roads close to the
Yangtze, Huaihe and Yellow Rivers as well as the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal.
Staff with grass-root communications departments must
comb potentially dangerous areas road by road, bridge by bridge, port by port
and dock by dock, it said.
The ministry is keeping autos and shipping vessels on
standby to ensure transportation facilities destroyed by floodwater can be
restored as early as possible.
Another notice released by the General Office of the
State Council urged better prevention of meteorological disasters to minimize
damage and secure people's lives and property.
Preventive measures should focus on more precise
forecasts for typhoons, snow and rain storms, strong wind and fogs as well as
short-term forecasts for thunder and lightning, tornado and hail.
It encouraged wider use of weather modification
technologies and the expansion and reinforcement of emergency rescue squads.
It said that departments and local governments should
share information with one another and coordinate disaster prevention work and
that the public should be better educated about meteorological disasters.
BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- China's central
government allocated another 95 million yuan (12.5 million U.S. dollars) on
Thursday to fund disaster relief work in flood-hit Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Sichuan
and Shanxi provinces, a spokesman of the Ministry of Civil Affairs said.
The government set aside 232 million yuan on
Wednesday for these areas. Full story
BEIJING, July 11 (Xinhua) -- China's central government
set aside 232 million yuan (about 31.35 million U.S. dollars) on Wednesday to
finance the ongoing battle against floods in Anhui, Jiangsu, Henan, Hubei and
Sichuan provinces.
Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao
urged local governments to try to improve weather monitoring, give priority to
safety and properly relocate people in flood-hit areas. Full story
BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- A total of 403 Chinese have
died, 105 are missing and 3.17 million people have been relocated as the rainy
season coupled with ferocious flood waters continues to batter central and
southern China.
Millions of people strung across 24 provinces,
autonomous regions and municipalities have been lashed by torrential rains and
floods. Full story
WANGJIABA, Anhui, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Authorities on
China's Huaihe River closed one of the major flood diversion channels on
Thursday in anticipation of further flood peaks to come.
Thirteen sluices at Wangjiaba, a key hydrological
station, were closed almost two days after they were opened in a move to reserve
capacity in flood zones, said an official from the Huaihe River Flood Control
and Drought Relief Headquarters. Full story
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