China flood crest threatens new city

Armies of volunteers have been drafted in to help the flood prevention effort

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Tens of thousands of soldiers, workers and farmers in central China are continuing round-the-clock efforts to prepare for the flood crest of the mighty Yangtze, due to pass through the city of Jiuqiang late Tuesday.

The flood peak earlier passed through the industrial center of Wuhan, Hubei Province, late Monday night without mishap.

However, up to 50 millimeter of rain has for the past two days been falling in different parts of Jiangxi province, deemed one of China's most flood-prone provinces.

Officials in the flood-prevention center in Jiangxi said the water level at Jiuqiang, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze, had risen Tuesday morning to 20.71 meters -- 1.21 meters above the danger mark.

They said the water mark could hit 20.73 meters later Tuesday, posing a grave threat to the 4.5 million people in the city.

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The soldiers, army reservists and workers who are reinforcing the embankments are also closely watching nearby Boyang Lake, which acts as a reservoir to absorb the Yangtze's overflow.

Reinforcements

Boyang's water level had also reached 20.13 meters Tuesday morning -- or 1.13 meters above the danger mark.

In the last great floods of 1998, several shoddily built dikes in the Jiuqiang area had given way, leading to heavy casualties.

Most of the embankments and levies have since been strengthened on personal orders of Premier Zhu Rongji.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has issued new regulations to ensure that donations from Chinese and overseas sources will reach flood victims in the fastest time possible.

All donations will be put into special accounts of local banks, and funds for victims and post-flood reconstruction will be paid out of these accounts, not directly handled by officials.

Moreover, representatives from foreign charity agencies have been invited into China to oversee the distribution of donations from overseas.