68,000 people in lake-flood area evacuation
(GUO NEI, China Daily staff)
07/10/2003
Some 68,000 people living by Hongze Lake in East China's Jiangsu Province are being evacuated as water levels put emergency flood services on high alert. The evacuation is in preparation for the diversion of water from China's fourth biggest freshwater lake. Flood warnings for the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River were also issued yesterday by officials at the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters. The water levels of all major hydraulic observation stations along the river continued to exceed danger levels, the headquarters said. The Huaihe River mainstream flood crest is approaching Hongze Lake, prompting its water level to keep rising. By 8 am yesterday, the water level at Hongze Lake, located on the lower reaches of the flooding Huaihe River, had reached 14.14 metres, 0.64 metres higher than the danger level. It was 0.06 metres higher than the record in 1991 when Huaihe River also experienced huge floods. Another flood diversion area has been prepared, which will be used to contain flood water discharged from Hongze Lake, said Zhang Zhitong, vice-director of the headquarters. The China Central Meteorological Station yesterday issued a storm warning for the Huaihe River and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The warning, in effect from noon yesterday till noon tomorrow, has been issued in view of the torrential rains and strong winds forecast for the valleys. The affected areas include the northern part of Hunan Province, the southern and eastern parts of Hubei Province, the southeast of Henan Province in Central China, and most areas of Anhui and Jiangsu provinces in the east. More than 1.05 million hectares of crop land have been reported to be waterlogged in northern Jiangsu, of which 402,600 hectares were seriously affected and 64,400 hectares would give no yields this year. Nanjing's 600-year-old city wall has collapsed in three places after continuous torrential rain. More than 7,000 fixed telephone lines were shut down after sluice gates had to be opened to divert flood water from the Huaihe River from July 3 in Anhui. (HK Edition 07/10/2003 page1)
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