The water level in China's swollen Huaihe River began receding
Friday afternoon but was still nearly 3 meters above the highwater
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.
(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2007)