South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Thursday renewed an orange alert for flood first issued two days ago as warning levels have been surpassed at 20 monitoring stations along 14 rivers across the region.
The capital city of Nanning on Wednesday upgraded its emergency response to floods from Level-III to Level-II.
As of Thursday afternoon, the water level at a monitoring station in the Nanning section of the Yujiang River had reached 76.24 meters, 3.24 meters above the warning level and higher than that in the morning.
In order to prevent collision between ships and bridges, the Nanning Maritime Safety Administration is closely following updates on rainfall and water discharges from locks to monitor water levels in bridge areas and issue navigation notices in a timely manner.
"At waterway sections where warning levels have been surpassed, we have implemented temporary traffic control, banning ships from passing through these areas except rescue ships and ships performing official duties," said Wen Jianxin, deputy director of the navigation management office of the administration.
Local authorities started traffic control on the Yongjiang Bridge and in flooded road sections Wednesday evening, banning motor vehicles, non-motor vehicles and pedestrians, while suspending services in some riverside museums and scenic areas.
Since Wednesday, pipe bursts have occurred in several locations along the Yongjiang River. The relevant departments have organized rescuers to evacuate residents and take precautions against dam failure.
As of Thursday morning, Nanning had closed 26 floodgates to prevent the flood from spreading to the urban area.
In the meantime, more than 1,600 people have been deployed to patrol riverbanks, with 3,000 more standing by in case of emergency.
Materials for emergency response have been placed at weak links to prepare for possible breaches.
The regional emergency management department has also transferred to Nanning a total of 5,700 pieces of flood relief materials, including inflatable boats, geotextiles, tents, folding beds, tables and stools, to guarantee the basic living conditions for affected residents.
China has a four-tier flood-control emergency-response system, with Level-I being the most severe response, as well as a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
South China’s Guangxi renews 2nd-highest alert for flood as rivers swell
