China's central government set aside 232 million yuan (US$31.35
million) on Wednesday to finance the ongoing battle against floods
in Anhui, Jiangsu, Henan, Hubei and Sichuan provinces.
Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao urged local governments to try to
improve weather monitoring, give priority to safety and properly
relocate people in flood-hit areas.
Cheng Dianlong, deputy director of the office of the State Flood
Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, said the emergency relief
fund would be used to help relocate residents from the Mengwa
Buffer Zone which was deliberately submerged on Tuesday to weaken
the flood peaks of the Huaihe River.
The operation has so far had little effect. At 4:00 AM on
Wednesday, the water level at Wangjiaba was 29.59 meters. It fell
slightly to 29.55 meters at noon but remains highly dangerous.
At the request of flood-control and drought relief departments
of Anhui and Jiangsu Provinces, the headquarters dispatched
Wednesday 100 rubber boats, 900,000 woven sacks and 800,000
water-proof knitted fabric garments to the flood-ravaged areas.
Cheng Dianlong said that this is the second worst flood on the
Huaihe River since 1954, with hydrological stations along the river
reporting water levels 2 to 3.5 meters above their warning
marks.
Some 488,400 people have been evacuated from the likely path of
floodwater from China's Huaihe River, including 343,900 from Anhui
Province.
More than half a million people from the three provinces have
been mobilized to patrol water dams and riverbanks around-the-clock
to detect and prevent dangerous conditions. Twelve new risky
conditions were detected on Wednesday.
In the Yangtze River valley, four helicopters have been
dispatched to help evacuate 658 people in Longchang County of
Southwestern Sichuan Province. The 3,700 people trapped by flood
water in Luxian County have been rescued and transported to
safety.
No critical dangers have been reported as the water level along
the Yangtze River is receding, Cheng said.
The central government also sent several working teams to
flood-stricken areas to guide disaster relief work. One of the
working teams, headed by civil affairs minister Li Xueju, arrived
in Anhui on Wednesday.
(Xinhua News Agency July 12, 2007)