Downpours swell rivers, reservoirs in E. China

HEFEI/NANJING - Heavy rain swept east China's Anhui and Jiangsu provinces on Friday and Saturday, swelling rivers and reservoirs and triggering a flood alert.

From 6 a.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Saturday, strong rain hit Anhui, with more than 50 monitoring sites reporting precipitation of 100 mm or more. Some 250 reservoirs were swollen, said the provincial flood control headquarters.

A flood peak of the Chuhe River, a tributary of the Yangtze River, China's longest, is forecast to appear in the early hours of Sunday at Xianghekou. The river will also see a flood peak at Chaheji at 6 a.m. Sunday, with the water level reaching 11 meters, one meter above the warning levels.

The water level of the Huaihe River will exceed the alarm level in the coming three days with precipitation of more than 100 mm.

Torrential rain also lashed Jiangsu, with record high water levels in some waterways.

The rainstorm affected over 60,000 residents in Changzhou City in Jiangsu, with floods 30 cm to two meters deep in some areas. The city activated a Grade I emergency response. Some 10,000 residents were evacuated.

Schools were ordered to stop classes from Sunday to July 1 in Changzhou.

Thousands of people have joined flood prevention efforts. The flood control authorities of both provinces have ordered hydropower plants to increase discharge of water and taken other measures to prevent flood.