A TOTAL of 3,832 residents have been evacuated after a river dike breached in central China’s Hunan Province on Sunday, local authorities said yesterday morning.

The dike breach occurred at around 8 p.m. Sunday in the Juanshui River in Yisuhe Town of Xiangtan County, Xiangtan City, according to the city’s flood control and drought relief headquarters.

The breach has widened to 77 meters as of 3:58 a.m. yesterday morning, according to China Central Television. No casualties have been reported so far.

The river’s water level was 0.3 meters higher than the historic highest level as heavy rainfall has battered the Xiangjiang River region since Friday in the wake of Typhoon Gaemi.

The Juanshui River is a tributary of the Xiangjiang River, dubbed the mother river of Hunan Province. Xiangjiang River issued its fourth flood warning of this year on Sunday night.

The headquarters said 1,205 people, including armed police, militia and professional rescuers, have been mobilized into rescue and relief work, assisted by more than 1,000 local officials and Party members.

Temporary shelters have been set up in four local schools to accommodate the evacuated residents from two villages of Xintang and Xinhu, most of whom have chosen to be accommodated by their relatives and friends, officials said.

Office of the National Committee for Disaster Reduction and Relief, along with the Ministry of Emergency Management and the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration have sent 15,000 pieces of bed sheets, summer quilt and family emergency bags to affected people in Xiangtan.

On Sunday, another dike breach occurred in a section of the Juanshui River in Huashi Town, Xiangtan County, authorities said. The river flows into the Xiangjiang River, a major tributary of the Yangtze.

The Ministry of Emergency Management said Saturday that Hunan would experience heavy rainstorms and parts of the province would see “extremely heavy rainstorms from Saturday evening to Monday.”

(Xinhua, China Daily)