August 17, 2002

(Clearwisdom.net)

(AFP) - Floods in China continued to worsen as rising waters spread to the east of the country and fears mounted for thousands of stricken farmers facing a struggle to rebuild their lives before the onset of winter.

"What I saw is bad enough. The rain has been falling for a few days and will continue in days to come," Red Cross official France Hurtuise told AFP by telephone Saturday, from Yangtian village in central Hunan Province.

In Hunan, the death toll has risen to 108 with 38 million people affected, according to an official with the Provincial civil authority.

In the southwestern Yunnan province, 106 people have been found dead since July 30 with floods affecting 14 districts, according to the China Youth Daily newspaper.

Some 72 are reported missing and 311 wounded. A total of 61 villages and 27,000 people have been affected by the water, with 13,000 evacuated.

In the Eastern province of Zhejiang, 16 people died and 11 were reported missing following floods which occurred Thursday.

And in the prefecture of Quzhou, nine died as rain poured down on more than 30 villages.

On the whole, more than 100 million Chinese have been affected by the floods this year.

In Yangtian, of the villages' 350 families living there, 45 have lost everything to the rising waters.

"A 76-year-old woman, the doyenne of a family of nine members, told how they were taken by surprise during the night, when the level of water reached two metres (yards) in a few hours," Hurtubise said.

The authorities opened the valves on several dams rather than take the risk of a burst, he said.

"The water came quickly, and caused considerable damage. Brick houses were completely ploughed up," according to the Red Cross official. He said aid was urgently required as "needs are immense".

In the surrounding district of Leiyang, experiencing its third flood this summer, 67,600 people were surrounded by water, 678 houses were completely destroyed, 1,500 damaged and approximately 10,000 people were without shelter, authorities said.

Rising waters also led to the closure of a section of China's longest river, the Yangtze, state media said Saturday.

The official China Daily said the waterway at the Three Gorges dam site in the central province of Hubei was closed as flood waters were expected to hit a volume of 46,000 cubic metres (more than 10 million gallons) per second by Saturday evening.

Officials say navigation has to halt once floodwaters reach a volume of 30,000 cubic metres at the diversion canal for the world's biggest dam, which is expected to become operational from next year.

Temporary ship elevators have to be closed when water-flow reaches 45,000 cubic metres per second, the officials said.