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dam-l AP 3/24 Beijing
BEIJING (AP) - Major floods exacerbated by El Nino are likely to hit south
China this summer, following a winter with up to four times more rain than
normal, the official state-run Xinhua News Agency said today.
Zhou Wenzhi, China's vice minister for water resources, urged officials to
improve flood prevention efforts, Xinhua said. Deadly floods occur in China
every summer.
Southern China had continuous rain this winter. The heaviest flood, in the
Ganjiang River in Jiangxi province, affected 130,000 people and 49,000 acres
of farmland, Xinhua said.
About 4 miles of embankments along the Yangtze River have collapsed and other
areas are threatening to give way, putting part of the city of Jiujiang,
farmland and a main Beijing-Hong Kong railway line at risk of flooding, Xinhua
reportd.
It said intense rains have raised water levels to 13 feet above the level
recorded last year at the same time.
Zhou told a flood control meeting in Jiangxi that major floods expected south
of the Yangtze River this year were ``partly owing to El Nino,'' Xinhua said.
El Nino is a periodic warming of the eastern Pacific Ocean, accompanied by
changes in air pressure over the ocean, that can change weather patterns over
much of the world.
AP-NY-03-24-98 0906EST
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news
report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed
without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active
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