The second flood crest of the Huaihe River reached Jiangsu Province by around 10:00p.m. Tuesday.

Yao Yuxiang, director of the water administration of Xuyi County, said as there had been no heavy rainfall in recent days upstream, the crest had been dropping in its course and now constitutes no serious threat to the Xuyi section of the river.

The crest would pass Xuyi County in five to six hours and enter Hongze Lake downstream by around 3:00 a.m. Wednesday, he said.

As the crest came nearer, more than 10,000 people in Hongze County had been patrolling the embankment of Hongze Lake around the clock to guard against any emergencies.

To ensure the safety of the lake, a new route for Huaihe River water to enter the sea was put into service on July 4. The route, designed to allow a rate of flow of 2,270 cubic meters per second with Tuesday's rate reaching 1,820 cubic meters per second, has diverted 1.3 billion cubic meters of floodwater into the sea.

"The route has ensured that the water level of Hongze Lake remain below 14.5 meters over the past ten days, and played an important role to the safety of embankments and areas around the lake," said Dai Yuanfeng, deputy director of the route's construction and administration bureau.

Some 21,000 people are guarding the embankment of the 163-km route.

(People's Daily July 16, 2003)