Altogether 970 reservoirs in central China's Hubei Province have seen their water levels surpass the danger line by Saturday due to continuous torrential rains, or 476 more than that on Friday, local authorities said.

The water levels in these reservoirs, out of the total 5,838 in the province, were 0.09 meter to 3.71 meters higher than the danger line, said Wang Zhongfa, director of the Hubei Provincial Department of Water Resources.

"It (the number of reservoirs with dangerous water levels) hits a new record high since 1991," Wang said.

Meanwhile, two of the reservoirs have reported overflows of water in cities of Tianmen and Xiangfan, he said, adding that emergency measures have been taken to reduce the water level.

Hubei experienced the most heaviest rainfalls of up to 352 mm between Thursday and Saturday since the flood season began, leaving one person dead and five others missing, according to the Hubei Provincial Department of Civil Affairs.

Floods destroyed cropland, houses and roads, and cut off communications and supplies of water and power, in addition to forcing the evacuation of 875,000 residents.

A total of 403 Chinese have died, 105 are missing and 3.17 million people have been relocated as the rainy season coupled with fierce floods continues to batter central and southern China.

Millions of people strung across 24 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have been lashed by torrential rains and floods, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

(Xinhua News Agency July 15, 2007)