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Flooding wanes on Chuhe River in east China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-08 07:37

HEFEI -- Flooding from east China's Chuhe River, which left 11 people dead, was ebbing amid sunny weather, the Anhui Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters reported.

A daily report by the provincial headquarters said that the water level monitored at Xianghekou and Chaheji, two key hydrological stations, was 11.31 meters and 9.62m, respectively, at 2 pm on Thursday. At 2 pm on Tuesday, the levels were 12.74m and 10.88m.

The provincial headquarters forecast that the water level along the entire main stream of the river would fall below the danger line of 10m by Friday morning.

The Chuhe River originates in central Anhui Province and flows east to meet the Yangtze River inside western Jiangsu Province.

Affected by Fung Wong, the eighth tropical storm this year, torrential rain fell over the Chuhe River system from July 31 to Aug. 2, causing floods on the main stream of the river and in its valley.

Damage was most severe inside Anhui Province.

Apart from causing 11 deaths, floods also inundated 302,600 hectares of land. The floods affected 2.73 million people, of whom93,800 had to be evacuated, as well as much of the farm infrastructure.

Direct economic losses were estimated at 2.44 billion yuan (US$349 million).

The Civil Affairs Ministry has sent a working group to Anhui.

Although the water is receding, about 200,000 people are still fighting the floods. So far, 96 percent of the inundated land has been drained.