People in central and eastern China have endured a week of heavy rain, with widespread flooding triggering emergency response measures from local authorities.
Parts of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in north China, Henan and Hubei provinces in central China and east China's Anhui Province have been lashed by torrential rain for two days straight.
Authorities in Henan opened gates at the Nihewa reservoir in Wuyang County, in Luohe City early on Thursday morning to help divert rising floodwaters.
In Caiyuanliu village in Luohe, township and village officials divided into teams to assist in the evacuation of 460 people from flooded residential areas.
Before the Nihewa reservoir was opened, 4,567 people from 10 villages in two townships had also been safely evacuated.
Water levels in some sections of the Huaihe River basin have risen in the heavy rains with the Yinghe River, a tributary of the Huaihe, experiencing rapid water level rises. Local authorities on Thursday opened the Cihuai New River, an artificial waterway, to divert floodwaters from the Yinghe.
Continuous heavy rains have also flooded farmlands in many parts of Hubei, where local authorities in Xiangyang City urgently dispatched over 5,200 pumping units to drain floodwaters and minimize losses to crops, while helping farmers reinforce more than 730 hectares of greenhouses.
The Office of the National Commission for Disaster Prevention, Reduction and Relief together with the Ministry of Emergency Management and the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, have allocated 20,000 items, including folding beds, blankets and family emergency kits, to Henan and Hebei to support affected residents.
Meteorologists have warned that heavy rainfall is expected to linger across Henan, Shandong and Hubei, bringing a risk of flooding and landslides. Authorities have advised the public to stay vigilant and take precautionary measures.
Emergency measures activated as heavy rain hits central, eastern China
