Flood-battered residents along the Huaihe River have been urged to brace for another soaking with more torrential rains expected in the next week.

Receding water levels on some of the river's branches have begun to rise again because of heavy falls in the upper reaches.

Rain in central Henan Province, in the upper reaches of the river, is pushing the third flood peak of the year towards Wangjiaba, a crucial hydrological station in Anhui, the local drought prevention and flood control office said yesterday.

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This is the worst flooding on the Huaihe River since 1954.

The water level on the crucial Wangjiaba Hydrological Station may soon surge above the danger line as more rains have been forecast in the next few days, Cheng Dianlong, deputy director of the Office of the Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, said.

The headquarters said the third flood peak will pass the Wangjiaba this afternoon, and they may have to discharge water from the station to Mengwa again if the water level climbs too high.

Yesterday afternoon, the eighth buffer zone in Anhui Province was ordered to help cope with the third flood peak.

So far, a total of nine buffer zones along the Huaihe River have been flooded to divert the water from the river to provide relief to more than 2 million flood-hit residents in Henan Province since Tuesday. Nearly half a million people have been evacuated from the projected path of floodwater.

The headquarters urged local governments to reinforce preventive measures and safeguard life and property by arranging for relocation in advance.

More than 30,000 People's Liberation Army troops have been assisting rescue efforts along the Huaihe River, which starts in Henan and runs east through Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu.

By Friday, 403 people had been killed by the flooding, 105 were missing and 3.17 million people had been relocated as the rainy season, coupled with ferocious flood waters, continued to batter central and southern China.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily 07/16/2007 page3)