Anhui Evacuates 17,000 People, to Blow up Dikes

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, July 06, 2003

Anhui Evacuates 17,000 People, to Blow up Dikes

The water level on the swollen Huaihe River had broken historic records. 17,000 people have been evacuated in eastern Anhui province ahead of plans to blow up river dikes on Sunday to release flood waters.

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China has evacuated 17,000 people in eastern Anhui province ahead of plans to blow up river dikes on Sunday to release flood waters.

The water level at Lutaizi hydrological survey station of Huaihe River has exceeded its historical record, according to report from the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

This is the first hydrological station in Huaihe to report water level higher than the historical record this year.

By 7:00 am Sunday, the water level at Lutaizi hydrological survey station had risen to 26.22 meters, 0.22 meters higher than its record of 26.00 meters which occurred on July 13, 1991.

Located in middle reaches of Huaihe River, the water level at Lutaizi hydrological survey station is still on the rise.

China's flooding season usually starts around June and ebbs by September. The Ministry of Civil Affairs said last week that 148 people had died by late June from floods.

Widespread floods in the summer of 2002 killed more than 1,500 people and caused damages estimated at 68 billion yuan, or US$8.2 billion.

Last year's floods were the worst since 1998, when weeks of relentless rain on the Yangtze River triggered floods that killed about 4,000 people.

Expert said the world's largest hydroelectric project, the Three Gorges Dam, will help tame the 6,300-km (3,900-mile) Yangtze, whose annual floods killed 300,000 people in the last century alone.

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