Authorities have mobilized millions of soldiers and government officials to help in rescue efforts. In Hubei, where a state of emergency was declared on Thursday, floods have already broken through more than 100 separate embankments. Now, as flooding begins to threaten Wuhan, a major industrial center with seven million residents, authorities are frantically searching for ways to divert part of the Yangtse River's overflow. In the Jingjiang plain, more than 300,000 residents have already been evacuated with the help of the army, the New China News Agency reported, and 200,000 more are expected to be moved. Local governments will compensate families whose homes are destroyed, the agency promised.
Flooding occurs virtually every summer in China.
In the past, official statistics on flood casualties have sometimes been unreliable because local officials have exaggerated conditions in hopes of receiving additional money from Beijing. The central authorities, in turn, often use natural disasters as a political rallying cry nationwide. Flooding in 1996, for instance, was also called the worst in decades by officials in badly affected areas. This year's flooding appears to affect more areas than the floods of 1996, but it is difficult to assess accurately because the authorities are barring foreign reporters from badly flooded areas. Saturday night, state television broadcast pictures of soldiers venturing into fast-rushing water to try to rebuild dikes with canvas bags filled with sand and rocks.