South China provinces told to brace for river flood

BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Water Resources said Saturday that 16 rivers in the southern part of the country had seen their water levels surpass warning lines due to the recent rainfalls.

These rivers are mostly tributaries of major regional rivers flowing through Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Yunnan.

The heavy rain is expected to last till Sunday, pushing water levels to warning lines in certain rivers in the Pearl River basin and near the Dongting and Poyang lakes, the ministry said.

The ministry has dispatched five work groups to provide instructions on flood prevention in affected areas.

Regions such as Guangxi, Hunan, and Zhejiang have retained their emergency responses to flooding.

The ministry added that it would keep a close watch on how the floods develop and implement various precautionary measures to ensure safety. ■