The water level in China's swollen Huaihe River began receding Friday afternoon but was still nearly 3 meters above the highwater mark in some places, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

 

Cheng Dianlong, a senior headquarters official, said that no individuals or organizations could afford to let their efforts taper off as the danger is still serious.

 

The headquarters has ordered all three provincial governments along the river -- Jiangsu, Anhui and Henan -- to take full responsibility and continue to reinforce river bank patrols.

 

The Ministry of Communications has asked local departments to keep a close eye on traffic and transport in roads close to the Yangtze, Huaihe and Yellow Rivers as well as the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal.

 

Staff with grass-root communications departments must comb potentially dangerous areas road by road, bridge by bridge, port by port and dock by dock, it said.

 

The ministry is keeping autos and shipping vessels on standby to ensure transportation facilities destroyed by floodwater can be restored as early as possible.

 

Another notice released by the General Office of the State Council urged better prevention of meteorological disasters to minimize damage and secure people's lives and property.

 

Preventive measures should focus on more precise forecasts for typhoons, snow and rain storms, strong wind and fogs as well as short-term forecasts for thunder and lightning, tornado and hail.

 

It encouraged wider use of weather modification technologies and the expansion and reinforcement of emergency rescue squads.

 

It said that departments and local governments should share information with one another and coordinate disaster prevention work and that the public should be better educated about meteorological disasters.

 

(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2007)