FUNAN, Anhui Province: Holding a piece of instant noodle in his hand, Zhang Zixue, 70, seemed resigned about the flood that destroyed his clay house in Wangjiaba.

The sluice gates of the Wangjiaba section of the Huaihe River, one of China's major rivers, were opened at 1 am on July 3 to divert the river's surging flood waters caused by heavy rainfall. They closed at 6 am on July 5, after the heavy rains stopped for several hours and the water level dropped to 28.91 metres, 0.09 metres below the safety line.

Zhang is among the 150,000 people who live in the Mengwa Flood Diversion Area in Funan. Altogether, 19,142 people who live on lower ground have been directly affected by the diversion and altogether 12,000 hectares of farmland have been submerged.

"I can understand why the sluice gates were opened. If not, people on the upper reaches would face a serious threat," Zhang said.

With help from three local militia soldiers and the village head, Zhang said that most of his valuables, as well as his livestock - including ducks, chickens and pigs - were moved to safe places before the sluice gates were opened.

Zhang and his 70-year-old wife Wang Zhaolan are now living in a camp built by the local government, where flour, rice, coal and drinking water are provided daily.

"We have tried every means to ensure the people's safety and minimize their property losses," said Yang Wenjiu, vice-director of the local flood-control headquarters, who has had little opportunity to rest in the past few days.

Yang said they went all out to arrange the emergency relief work and make the flood diversion proceed smoothly. Although tired, he and his colleagues felt pleased that no one has been injured or killed.

Tons of flour and rice have been delivered to 75 villages in the diversion areas by boats and hundreds of camps have been built on higher ground in the diversion areas.

For those whose houses have collapsed or were submerged by water, Yang said, they had been ordered to live on the higher ground to avoid possible flood damage.

(China Daily 07/07/2003 page2)