242,000 people evacuated over rainstorms in east China province

HEFEI, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Rainstorms in east China's Anhui Province have left 991,000 residents affected and forced the evacuation of 242,000 people, as of Tuesday afternoon, local authorities said Tuesday.

As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, rainstorms had wreaked havoc in 36 counties and districts in seven prefecture-level cities in Anhui, according to the provincial emergency-management department.

The Yangtze River, China's longest river, has seen water levels in its Anhui section exceed their warning marks, and levels continue to rise. Torrential rains have also pushed waters above their guaranteed or alert levels in another 20 rivers and six lakes in the province.

Torrential rains continued to lash a large swathe of the province over the past day, as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, with 387 stations receiving precipitations exceeding 100 mm, with the largest reading being 266 mm.

The rainstorms prompted the three cities of Ma'anshan, Wuhu and Tongling in Anhui to raise their emergency response to flooding to Level III, the third-highest level.

In their emergency response to rainstorms and flooding, authorities in cities along the Yangtze River in Anhui have dispatched more than 50,000 people to patrol dikes.

In the next 24 hours, up to 8 p.m. Wednesday, showers or moderate rains are forecast to hit many parts of the province, according to the Anhui meteorological center.

Flooding also wreaked havoc in Pingjiang County and the city of Miluo in the city of Yueyang, central China's Hunan Province, leading to some inundated residential quarters, landslides, disrupted roads and bridges, house collapses, overflowing floodwaters and dikes in danger, according to the Yueyang flood-control and drought-relief headquarters.

The precipitation in Pingjiang County reached 759.6 mm from June 18 to July 1, the largest since meteorological records began in 1961.

The Pingjiang hydrological station of Miluo River saw its water level rise rapidly by 9.5 meters within 48 hours. The station experienced the flood crest at midnight on Monday, with the water level 3.67 meters above the guaranteed level, the highest level in 70 years.

The water level in Miluo River started to recede on Tuesday, with the water level at the Pingjiang station falling 1.49 meters as of 6 p.m. Tuesday.