Flood, drought and wind prevention agencies in Guangdong Province have been urged to be on high alert for floods this summer.

"We will probably encounter a big flood this summer," Guangdong governor Huang Huahua said in a conference on flood prevention in the city of Foshan on Thursday.

Lin Liangxun, a weather forecaster with the Guangdong weather bureau, said that the global weather phenomenon La Nina, which hit the country in August last year, is responsible for the extreme weather conditions, such as the snowstorms that struck central and southern regions in January and February.

La Nina is a large pool of unusually cold water in the equatorial Pacific that develops every few years, affecting global weather patterns.

The phenomenon is still affecting China and the weather this summer will be complicated, Lin said, adding it may also cause other natural disasters such as typhoons and floods.

He forecast the flood season in Guangdong will last from this month to September. Most rainfall will be concentrated from now until June.

Four river valleys in Guangdong - Xijiang, Beijiang, Dongjiang and Hanjiang - are likely to experience their most serious floods in five years, the provincial hydrology bureau said earlier.

There could be five to seven tropical cyclones affecting the province from the South China Sea this summer. The tropical cyclones will lead to heavy rain or even floods, Lin said.

To prepare for the possible disasters, all flood, drought and wind prevention command posts in the 21 cities of Guangdong are required to be on duty 24 hours a day and keep a close watch on weather changes until October 15.

The provincial flood, drought and wind prevention center has designated 10 mayors to be in charge of preventing floods at the 10 most crucial embankments in the province.

The center has also assigned hundreds of people to head flood prevention measures at 337 embankments in the province.

(China Daily April 26, 2008)