Ferocious flooding along the Huaihe River had destroyed 2.25
million hectares of farmland and 71,000 houses by Monday, causing a
combined economic loss of 12 billion yuan (about US$1.6
billion).
More than 20.42 million people have been directly affected,
according to the latest figures from the Office of the State Flood
Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.
The damage is so far lower than that in the floods of 1991 and
2003 but the office has warned of further severe flooding as heavy
rainfall is expected over the next three days along the Huaihe
River and the Yangtze River Valley, which includes Sichuan,
Chongqing, Hubei and Guizhou.
Cheng Dianlong, deputy director of the office, said that another
peak in the water level was expected to be recorded at Wangjiaba, a
key hydrological station along the Huaihe River, but that it should
not surpass the previous high set a few days ago.
Wangjiaba, near Fuyang of east China's Anhui Province,
registered a water level of 28.78 meters at noon, up 52 centimeters
from a day earlier and 1.28 meters higher than the danger line of
27.50 meters.
The headquarters have urged the Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu
authorities to remain high alert. Nearly 380,000 people, including
People's Liberation Army soldiers, have been drafted in to assist
with flood-relief efforts.
As more rainfalls are expected in the upcoming three days, the
headquarters warned that a much severer flood was just around the
corner.
(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2007)
