Floods of the Yellow River's biggest tributary of Weihe and
Yangtze River's biggest tributary of Hanjiang have left 16 dead and
four others missing, local officials said Wednesday.
According to the Shaanxi
Provincial Bureau of Civil Affairs, the floods and mud slides they
triggered have affected 4.61 million local residents, destroying
79,800 hectares of crops and pulling down 39,200 houses, with
direct economic losses estimated at 1.94 billion yuan (US$239
million) in the province.
The flood also damaged railway, highway, cable lines and
irrigation infrastructures.
A total of 359,200 people have been evacuated, the bureau
said.
Continued heavy rains from September 24 to October 2 caused the
biggest flood in 10 years along the lower reaches of the Weihe
River.
The peak on Tuesday at Huaxian County's observation station
along the Weihe River was 4,820 cubic meters per second.
The Xiaolangdi Reservoir, a major water conservancy and
irrigation facility on the Yellow River, has been used since Sunday
to conserve floodwater. Industry insiders were optimistic about
flood prevention for the lower reaches of the river.
Weather forecasters said the rain will stop in southern parts of
Shaanxi and western parts of central China's Henan
Province, where the Yellow River passes through.
Meanwhile, a lot of water in the Hanjiang River is adding to its
middle and lower reaches so water levels keep rising, according to
the Hubei Provincial Flood Control Headquarters.
Compared with previous floods, high water level volume has
continued for longer, sources said.
There was still the possibility of flooding along Hanjiang
yesterday, according to Luo
Qingquan, governor of Hubei
Province.
Luo urged localities there to keep a close eye on water levels
and take necessary measures such as sending adequate manpower to
patrol riverbanks during the autumn flood season, Xinhua reported
yesterday.
By 8 AM yesterday, the water levels monitored at Huangzhuang,
Xiantao and Hanchuan hydrological stations rose, respectively, to
47.02, 33.75 and 28.2 meters, up by 1.02, 3.08 and 2.81 meters from
Tuesday.
The water level at the Xiangyang station was 67.19 meters, a
drop of 0.07 meters from Tuesday, but still 0.19 meters above the
danger line. And the water level at Yicheng station was 57.95
meters, 0.45 meters higher than the danger line.
Hanjiang originates from Shaanxi Province. It flows
southeastwardly through the central part of Hubei and joins the
mighty Yangtze River at Wuhan, capital of Hubei.
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily October 6, 2005)