Officials at State Flood-Control and Drought Relief Headquarters (SFCDR) said they have worked out countermeasures to deal with possible severe flooding and limit the extent of possible damage in the weeks ahead.

They called upon authorities to accelerate construction of their uncompleted flood-control projects before the flood period, which usually starts in late July.

One of the most important tasks at this time is to perfect flood-protection measures, Deng Jian, deputy director of the SFCDR office, said.

"Such plans must be practical and regularly updated to keep them in line with changing weather conditions and fluctuations in flood water levels," Deng stressed.

Under these plans, flood control authorities should work out details for the evacuation of people living in flood-prone areas and local residents stranded by flash floods, and work out effective ways to discover and eliminate dangerous sections of embankments in order to regulate flood water effectively.

"Where there is precaution, there is no danger," Deng said.

One of the effective ways to cut flood damage is to combine China's existing water-control systems with the schemes for controlling floodwater.

For example, last month, a reservoir on the Jinxi River in Jianning County in western Fujian succeeded in reducing the severity rating of the flood from once in 500 years to once in 100 years by emptying the reservoir before the flood hit.

The reservoir was thus able to contain the massive quantities of floodwater caused by intense rainfall, with a maximum precipitation of over 30 centimeters in 24 hours.

Rainfall hit 60 centimeters in a few places during the floods that have hit 19 provinces since early June.

This much rainfall in a day is enough to trigger floods in mountainous areas or water logging in plains areas anywhere in the world, experts said.

In Fujian, the containment of flood water by a reservoir helped to reduce water levels in Jiangle County, downstream from the reservoir, by 2.7 meters when the flood peak passed through the county town.

Authorities in Jianning County, also in Fujian, issued a warning about a flood peak passing through the county 7 hours ahead of its arrival.

Thousands of local residents stranded on the roofs of their houses during the flood were evacuated to safe places thanks to a well-trained 3,000-member emergency squad mobilized in the county.

As a result, no casualties were reported in Jianning, the worst flood-hit county in Fujian Province last month, though the county was under 6 to 7 meters of water.

SFCDR made it clear that leading officials heading emergency squads rushing to deal with embankment emergencies must get ready and be well trained before floods hit.

Leading officials responsible for flood-control will face dereliction of duty charges if they fail to ensure the safety of water-control projects and heavy damages result, it warned.

Reserves of flood control materials, such as sacks and lifeboats, should also be prepared in sufficient numbers and deployed for use.

The central government attaches great importance to the preparation of flood-controls, and Vice-Premier Wen Jiabao has inspected the areas worst affected by last month's flooding in Shaanxi and other provinces.

The SFCDR has also, since the beginning of this season's floods, sent eight groups of experts to examine flood-control preparations along China's major flood-prone rivers and lakes.

(China Daily July 3, 2002)