Natural calamities in China have already claimed 555 lives and caused 28.5 billion yuan (US$3.4 billion) in damages this year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs reported on Tuesday. Floods, drought, earthquakes, snow, landslides and mudslides have toppled 269,000 houses and 630,000 people have been forced to evacuate. The disasters have also affected 14.6 million hectares of crops: 1 million hectares will have no harvest.

Floods alone have affected 1.9 million hectares of crops, including 235,300 hectares that were wiped out completely. They have killed 296 people and forced 412,000 to relocate.

Heavy rainstorms have hit many areas, mostly in the south, three times in the past week. The rain belt will head north in the days to come, according to a report issued Wednesday by the China Meteorological Administration (CMA).

"Intense and persistent rainfalls are likely to increase in eastern parts of northwest China, the central-southern portion of north China, areas along the Hanshui River Valley and locations between the Yellow and Huaihe rivers," the report said.

The rain may last for a week in some areas, with 25 to 50 millimeters forecast to fall in the next 10 days. Some areas may see as much as 90 millimeters.

The CMA warned that flood control on north China's rivers will become critical and new floods are likely to occur "at any moment as of today."

CMA head Qin Dahe ordered all meteorologists to stay their posts and cancel all unnecessary trips or conferences.

The weather monitoring body will work with flood-control authorities to monitor the moving rain belt and its impact on China's major rivers, like the Yangtze and the Yellow.

The water level at the Three Gorges reservoir was reportedly lowered four meters at Yichang, the dam site of the project in Hubei Province. Experts believe that the reservoir can hold 2 billion cubic meters of floodwater and reduce downstream flooding on the Yangtze.

On Wednesday, a flood with a crest of 37,100 cubic meters of water per second was recorded on the Xijiang River, pushing the water level 3.6 meters over the warning mark at Wuzhou hydrometric station in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Wuzhou was well prepared and no damage or casualties were reported. Wuzhou is a key flood-control city through which more than 90 percent of the rivers in Guangxi flow.

In neighboring Guangdong, a heavy storm that struck Guangzhou, capital of the province, caused chaos in the busy downtown areas on Tuesday. Many streets in the business centers were flooded.

(China Daily July 15, 2004)