Wang said that his village has never seen such heavy flooding since 1969.

Water levels in some rivers and lakes have exceeded the warning lines since July 8 when heavy rains began to pound the province.

Throughout the province, the heavy rain has impacted the lives of almost 2.5 million people, said Cai Zhengzhong, spokesman for Anhui provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.

He said that since last Thursday the rains, which had also damaged 2,496 water conservancy works, had caused an estimated direct economic loss of 586 million yuan.

On Saturday, Vice-premier Hui Liangyu urged all relevant departments to issue alerts promptly, reinforce dams and dikes, and resettle people affected by the floods.