China issues flood emergency response

BEIJING - China's flood control authority on Monday issued an emergency notice nationwide alerting flood control departments to prepare for expected surging water flows in the Yangtze River and floods in other parts of the country.

The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has launched a level-II emergency response, the second-severest warning in the flood control authority's five-level response regime, due to the grim flood situation.

The water levels in all the sections of the riverbank in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River is exceedingly high, the state flood control authority said.

The Three Gorges Dam will experience its largest flood peak this year on Tuesday, with a peak flow of 70,000 cubic meters of water per second, it said.

During the past days, China has been pounded by floods in the northern regions, leaving at least 37 people dead alone in Beijing.

The state flood control authority has sent teams to guide the flood control work to Guangdong and Hainan provinces, where Typhoon Vicente, the eighth tropical storm this year, will whip through and bring strong winds and downpours from Monday evening to Tuesday.