The China Central Meteorological Station (CMS) Tuesday issued a severe storm warning for the Huaihe River and Hanshui River valleys, and called on localities to guard against and control floods and geological disasters such as mud-rock flow and landslides.

The storm warning, in effect from Tuesday noon to Wednesday noon, has been issued in view of the heavy to torrential rains and strong winds forecast for the valleys.

The affected areas include the eastern and northern parts of Guizhou Province in southwest China, the northern part of Hunan Province, the southern part of Henan Province and most areas of Hubei Province in central China, and the central and northern parts of Anhui and Jiangsu provinces in the east.

Some of the areas can expect thunderstorms or hurricanes, according to the weather station.

Meteorologists hold that the rainy weather is the result of the interaction of strong, warm and cold air currents.

Flooding had caused the evacuation of 378,900 people in Anhui Province in the past few days, with 200,000 from the flood-stricken Huaihe River areas.

(Xinhua News Agency July 8, 2003)