Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (L) shakes hands with a villager during his visit to a temporary shelter in Yingxian Township of Linquan County, east China's Anhui Province, on July 13, 2007. Wen, accompanied by Vice Premier Hui Liangyu, flew to seriously flooded Fuyang of Anhui Province early Saturday morning to inspect disaster-relief work. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao asked the nation to be prepared for a further worsening of the flood situation as the country enters the main flood season.

    Wen, accompanied by Vice Premier Hui Liangyu, flew to seriously flooded Fuyang of Anhui Province in east China early Saturday morning to inspect disaster-relief work.

    Over the past two weeks, the whole valley of China's Huaihe River has been hit by the most serious floods since 1954, with heavy losses to life and property.

    Wen first visited Yingxian Township of Linquan County, where 155 villages were besieged by floods due to especially heavy rainstorms a few days ago. The township set up 21 temporary shelters for the villagers. At a shelter in Yingnan Village, Wen talked with villagers in a tent, asking them about their health care, food and water supplies.

    He asked local officials to focus on three things: one is to ensure the safety of drinking water by checking water quality; the second is the prevention and cure of diseases, especially endemic and infectious diseases; and the third is house repairs. Flooded houses must undergo a safety check before villagers return to occupy them.

    In the afternoon he went to Wangjiaba, the site of a key hydrological station first built in 1953 and renovated in 2003. Local officials told Wen that on July 10, Wangjiaba opened its sluices to divert the floods and 180,000 mu (about 12,000 hectares) of farmland in the Mengwa flood buffer zone was submerged, with all villagers safe. Now nearly 160,000 villagers have moved to highland villages or temporary shelters.

    Wen praised the local people for their devotion to flood fighting, saying that the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters had made the correct decision to divert the floods, and Anhui Province had contributed to the safety of the upper and lower reaches of the Huaihe River.

    In the Mengwa flood buffer zone, Wen inspected submerged crops and talked with villagers. He expressed thanks to the villagers for their contribution and promised that the government will compensate villagers in the buffer zone for their losses.

    After a 10-hour tour of the flood-hit areas, Wen chaired a symposium on disaster-relief work. He fully approved the results achieved so far in flood-fighting.

    He stressed that this is only the early stage of the main flood season, and that the whole country must be prepared for the worse things to happen. Flood fighting and disaster relief work must be well organized and all forces must be mobilized to win the fight against floods.

    Half of China drenched, bedraggled by unprecedented floods

    JINGSHAN, Hubei, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Zheng Xiaoling trekked in the knee-deep water, careful not to fall and be washed into a swollen river 500 meters away.

    On Friday, the worst rainstorm to attack her home county of Jingshan in central China's Hubei Province since records began interrupted power and water supplies for six hours and inundated at least 140 homes in her community, including her own.

    All hands on deck while flood water recedes

    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.

    More relief funds allocated to flood-hit areas

    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

    China allocates relief fund to flood-hit provinces

    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

    Floods cause more deaths, economic losses in China

    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

    Sluices on Huaihe River closed to prepare for bigger floods

    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