Hu, Wen urge all-out efforts to save flood victims

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Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao Tuesday called for all-out efforts to combat floods and save the lives after a dike collapsed?in heavy rain in east China's Jiangxi Province.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (front R) cleans ruins with rescuers in Shuangshang village in Cangwu County of southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, June 20, 2010. Wen Jiabao inspected flood-affected area in Guangxi from June 19 to 20. [Xinhua]

Hu and Wen stressed that ensuring people's safety was top priority and called on rescuers to work hard to control the flooding, said a statement from Jiangxi Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

Hu also ordered 800 soldiers from the Nanjing Military Zone to help with the rescue work in Fuzhou City of Jiangxi, where the Fuhe River burst its bank Monday evening, it said.

The dike at the Changkai section of the Fuhe River burst at 6:30 p.m.Monday and threatened the safety of about 80,000 residents in Fuzhou. The opening in the dike expanded to 400 meters at around 7 a.m. Tuesday.

More than 68,000 people had been relocated to safety by Tuesday morning, the headquarters said. No casualties had been reported in the city so far.

About 12,000 people living in low-lying areas or dangerous buildings were still awaiting evacuation as of noon Tuesday, said Wu Xinxiong, the provincial governor.

Vice Premier Hui Liangyu Tuesday asked local authorities to relocate people in at-risk areas to safety areas as soon as possible and make sure they had food, clean water, accommodation and medical care.

Hui made the remarks in Beijing at a video conference with rescue leaders in Jiangxi.

He also urged authorities to plug the breach, strengthen flood-threatened dams, and drain flooded fields.

Hui ordered local authorities to enhance monitoring of potential risks in facilities like dams and reservoirs, as a new round of heavy rains were expected to pelt most parts of south China from Wednesday to Saturday.

The provincial headquarters has established 15 relocation areas, which can accommodate up to 30,000 people. Authorities in Fuzhou City have set up 17 make-shift shelters at stadiums and local schools for flood victims.

More than 10,000 soldiers and civilians had been mobilized by the provincial government for rescue and relief work.

The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has dispatched more than 1,600 boats and 5,000 life vests to Jiangxi. The People's Liberation Army has sent helicopters to the province to help in rescue and relief operations.

According to Jiangxi's civil affairs department, people in the affected areas were desperately in need of tents and food, but transport of relief materials had been delayed as parts of the road linking Fuzhou with the provincial capital of Nanchang were badly flooded.

The provincial government had sent 800 boxes of disinfectant and eight trucks of bottled water and instant noodles and more relief materials were on the way.

The heavy rains and floods ravaged 10 southern Chinese provinces, leaving 199 dead and 123 missing as of 11 a.m. Tuesday, a Ministry of Civil Affairs statement said.

More than 29 million people in the provinces and municipality -- Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan and Guizhou -- have been affected by the weather, with 2.376 million of them being evacuated, the statement said

Many regions in the provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong, as well as in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, will be hit by rainstorms and torrential rains from Wednesday to Saturday, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) forecast Tuesday.

But the silver lining is that Huangguoshu Waterfall in Guizhou Province, which shrank due to the drought two months ago, has resumed its glory with water falling at a rate of over 100 cubic meters per second.

"The waterfall was really amazing with all the water pouring down and I really enjoyed the trip," said Yang Shushu, a tourist from Shanghai.

The drought had seriously hurt local tourism and with the heavy rainfall, the famous waterfall would see a surge in the number of visitors, said a local tour guide.