More reservoirs to control flooding

Medical workers transport a person injured when a house collapsed in Wuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on Wednesday. The collapse happened at 5:30 am amid continuous torrential rain, killing three and injuring four others, the local government said. ZHU HUIQIAN/XINHUA  More photos

Ma Jianhua, secretary-general of the headquarters, said the deadline for the restoration is May 30, and a 10-day extension will be given for some thorny problems.

Chen Guiya, deputy director of the office of the headquarters, said it planned to increase the size of seven reservoirs used for diversion and storage of floodwater. Previously, all the reservoirs for flood diversion and storage were located upstream, while the seven new ones are located in the middle stream.

Almost nowhere in the Yangtze River basin has been troubled by flooding yet. But farther south in Guangdong province, people's lives have been affected by torrential rain.

In Guangzhou, many people going to work or school were trapped in traffic as downpours flooded a number of streets and at least two large fallen trees blocked roads on Thursday. A primary school and some offices in the city were also flooded.

In Shanxin, Shizui and Tianxin villages in Conghua district, 119 people were evacuated from flooded houses, according to the Guangzhou flood control headquarters.

Rain alerts were given in Zhongshan and Zhuhai in the province on Thursday morning.

Li Wenfang in Guangzhou contributed to this story.