An official flood emergency has been declared yesterday in the flood-hit province, where millions of people are threatened by surging water levels.
Officials said water levels could match those of 1998 when serious flooding caused widespread damage and economic loss.
Heavy rain since mid-August has led to soaring water levels in the province's two rivers -- Zishui and Xiangjiang -- as well as the Dongting Lake.
Water levels rose above the warning line Wednesday.
More than 1,819 kilometers of dykes at the Dongting Lake has seen water surge past the warning line.
People living around the lake were already being evacuated.
But if Dongting lake bursts its banks, then water flowing down the Yangtze could threaten neighboring Hubei Province and its capital Wuhan.
Changsha, capital city of Hunan, which is located by Dongting and the Yangtze River and has millions of residents, is in serious danger of being hit by floods.
More than 100,000 local officials and 750,000 laborers are working around the clock on flood defenses.
Nearly 4,000 soldiers have left for Yueyang, Yiyang, Changde and others cities in Hunan to fight the floods.
(CRI August 22, 2002)
