Dikes along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in central
Hubei Province, are standing firm as the year's largest flood peak
occurs, according to official reports.
Hundreds of thousands of people and soldiers are defending the
dikes and embankments in Hubei and Hunan provinces.
Meanwhile, people in the lower reaches of the country's largest
river, in Anhui Province, are making strenuous efforts to prepare
for the coming flood peak.
Large amounts of relief goods and materials, including more than 3
million sandbags made of plastic fabrics, straw and jute, have been
stored by the Anhui provincial flood control headquarters.
Officials from the Yangtze River Flood Control Headquarters told
Xinhua that since 1998, when severe floods caused enormous losses
in the Yangtze River area, tens of billions of yuan (8.27 yuan=1 US
dollar) had been invested to repair flood prevention facilities
along the river.
The year's largest flood so far has been caused by floodwaters from
the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and Dongting Lake, according
to some local experts.
Heavy rains since early August have been a major source of the
floodwaters, the experts noted.
(Xinhua News
Agency August 23, 2002)