The Ministry of Land and Resources warned the coastal provinces
of Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong yesterday of the potential
dangers of mud slides during this year's typhoon season, which the
Meteorological Administration predicts will be severe, Xinhua news
agency reported today.
The state is prone to more typhoons this year due to the impact
of "La Niña," said Xu Xiaofeng, a deputy director of the
administration. La Niña is a climatic phenomenon in which cooler
than normal waters appear in the eastern and central Pacific
Ocean.
The Ministry of Land and Resources has set its inland priority
to the Three Gorges Reservoir area. It has also notified Hubei
Province and Chongqing Municipality to take precautionary measures
of moving potentially hazardous projects in the reservoir area and
reinforcing and heightening flood walls.
The ministry also issued warnings to inland Hunan, Sichuan,
Guizhou and Yunnan provinces of heavy rainfalls,
"Generally speaking, preparatory efforts equal 10 times that of
the rescue work if a disaster really happens," said Yuan Xiaosu, a
vice minister at the Land and Resource Department. The ministry
also ordered all local land resource authorities to specify
responsibilities in disaster prevention operations, design
emergency response plans and the issuing of practical information,
such as escape routes and emergency survival guides to all
residents.
(Shanghai Daily April 20, 2006)