Heavy Rain May Worsen Flooding

Heavy rain may worsen flooding in many parts of the country before the end of August, challenging the country's already severe flood control situation, officials said.

As of Wednesday, at least 575 people had been killed in geological disasters triggered by floods and another 340 are missing, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

Flooding has affected nearly 80 million people, causing direct economic losses of up to 162 billion yuan (US$26 billion).

Northeast China is among the hardest hit areas, with thousands of homes flooded, travel disrupted and hundreds dead in the worst flooding in 50 years.

"More heavy rains in late August may cause massive flooding of the Songhua River, inflicting more damage," said the headquarters' spokesman Shu Qingpeng on Wednesday.

The Songhua River, a major waterway in Northeast China, experienced a huge flood in 1998.

The river has had about 40 percent more rain since June than the average for the period in previous years. The total rainfall along the river this year is even higher than that in 1998, according to the headquarters.

During an emergency video conference on flood control, Premier Li Keqiang demanded the utmost efforts to save people on Tuesday.

He said local authorities must provide adequate food, water and tents to people in disaster-hit areas and spare no efforts in treating the injured. They will receive government support to pay for medical bills.