Continuous downpour during the past days has flooded nine counties and put 18 reservoirs at risk in central-south China's  Hunan Province, said local sources.

According to the Hunan Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, nine counties were ravaged by torrential rain that hit the northwestern part of the province from 8:00 a.m. Monday to 8:00 p.m. Tuesday. Thirteen houses were destroyed in floods and landslides and nearly 110,000 people were forced to move to higher grounds.

By Tuesday, the water levels in Yuanshui River Valley, the middle and reaches of Zishui River and Dongting Lake had all passed danger line.

More than 200 hydrological stations in the province reported rain. Sixty-five of them observed over 50 millimeters of rain water between 8:00 p.m. Monday and 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, 22 had more than 100 millimeters and two had more than 200 millimeters.

A landslide in Chenxi county, Huaihua city, has put the Changtianwan Reservoir, a medium-sized reservoir, at risk. Local officials, soldiers and civilians are making all-out efforts to safeguard the reservoir.

Local sources confirmed seventeen smaller reservoirs in the province are also at risk.

Zhou Bohua, governor of Hunan Province, has urged local officials to fight flooding, promote relief work and guard against any possible outbreak of epidemic diseases in the flood-stricken areas.

(Xinhua News Agency July 21, 2004)