CHINESE authorities yesterday earmarked an additional 350 million yuan (US$50 million) to assist flood-hit regions of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and also provinces in Northeast China.

Torrential rainstorms and floods have wreaked havoc in North and Northeast China over the past week.

So far, the Central Government has allocated 520 million yuan in central natural disaster relief funds to the above-mentioned regions, according to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management.

Local governments can use these funds for disaster relief, emergency response, relocating residents, identifying flood-related hazards and restoring damaged homes, the authorities said.

During a visit to Tianjin on Saturday, Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing urged work to reinforce dikes and levees and keep flood relief channels clear.

Given upstream uncertainty, it is necessary to reinforce dams, which are crucial or relatively weak, he said, adding that central and local State-owned enterprises should play a professional role at this moment.

He also urged full preparation of flood fighting equipment, 24-hour patrols on dikes and proper relocation of residents.

Rescuers of the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) have evacuated 1,475 people in the flood-affected city of Zhuozhou, North China’s Hebei Province, the society said yesterday.

The RCSC had dispatched 14 rescue teams with over 200 members to Zhuozhou as of Saturday. It has deployed 7,700 items of disaster relief supplies, including tents and convertible beds, and arranged 20 million yuan for people in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei to restore normal life and production.

It also allocated more than 2.5 million yuan worth of humanitarian aid to Zhuozhou.

After days of search and evacuation efforts, RCSC teams Saturday began disinfection work in residential and commercial areas in the city, according to the RCSC.

Six people had been killed and four remain missing after heavy rain battered the city of Shulan in Jilin Province, local authorities said Saturday night. A total of 18,916 people have been evacuated, with 21 temporary relocation facilities established.

The Ministry of Water Resources yesterday updated the flood response level in North China’s Inner Mongolia and Northeast China’s Jilin and Heilongjiang.

The emergency response was raised to Level III, the third-highest level of China’s four-tier flood-control emergency response system, as strong rainfall since last Wednesday has triggered flooding in parts of these regions.

Peak flood discharges are forecast to hit certain hydrological stations along some key rivers. For example, peak flood discharge up to 7,500 cubic meters per second will hit Changjiangtun hydrological station in the downstream of the Mudanjiang River around today.

(Xinhua)