Flood wreaks havoc in NE China

By Saturday, 18,916 people had been evacuated in Shulan, and 21 temporary relocation facilities were established. Rescue forces have restored the service of 85 electricity and 26 telecommunication facilities in the city.

To better aid the areas, the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Emergency Management allocated an additional funding of 350 million yuan ($48.8 million) on Saturday to local authorities of Beijing, Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Heilongjiang and Jilin. Previously, the central government had allocated 170 million yuan for these places.

The funds are being used for emergency relief, relocating residents, disaster inspection and restoration of collapsed and damaged houses, according to the ministries.

The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and the emergency management ministry have conducted teleconferences with Tianjin, Jilin, Heilongjiang and Hebei to arrange the anti-flood and emergency relief work since Saturday.

These areas have been urged to coordinate relief forces to rescue people trapped or missing in order to minimize the casualties. They have been required to restore communications and electricity facilities to secure the rescue operation.

Local authorities have been urged to closely monitor the rain and water situations, to scientifically use flood-control projects and prevent emergencies at embankments and reservoirs.

On Friday night, the headquarters, together with the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration allocated emergency supplies worth 7.14 million yuan. It has also dispatched 10 teams to flooded areas to help them deal with the emergencies.

On Saturday, the declared flooding emergency remained at Level 2 of the four-level system in Tianjin and Hebei, and level 3 in Beijing, Jilin and Heilongjiang.