Three people were killed and 44,400 residents displaced in
floods caused by torrential rains in parts of east China's Anhui Province since last Wednesday.
The provincial government on Wednesday launched a natural
disaster emergency response mechanism by sending working groups to
flood-hit areas, mostly regions along the flood-prone Huaihe River
and those north to the river to organize and give guidance in flood
control and relief operations.
Parts of Anhui, including Chuzhou, Suzhou, Bengbu, Huaibei,
Bozhou and Fuyang have been stricken by heavy rains or downpour
since June 28, driving up the level of water in many tributaries of
Huaihe river and leading to floods in the above mentioned areas,
said information from the civil affairs bureau of the provincial
government.
Affected by the floods are 4.12 million residents, of whom,
25,400 have been suffering from a difficulty of finding drinking
water. And 380,667 hectares of crops have been destroyed by the
floods, and the direct economic losses are placed at 810 million
yuan (about US$101 million), according to the sources.
The flood situation will be alleviated in the forthcoming days,
said a local official, who cited a forecast given by the local
meteorological department predicting the prolonged torrential rains
in the province would cease as of Wednesday, though an overcast and
rainy weather might stay for sometime.
(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2006)