East China's Fujian Province has been suffering from continuous drought since summer, which had affected 35 cities and counties.

According to the provincial meteorological department, the province suffered from the severest drought since 1939 in the summer and it is still continuing.

Most parts of the province were affected, especially the northwestern and coastal areas, said Liu Aiming, deputy head of the department.

Rainfall decreased by at least 30 percent over the previous years, according to Liu. All small reservoirs have dried out while large and medium-sized ones are holding less than half of the water in normal years.

The drought has badly affected people's lives. Farmers on islands had to get water from springs on the hills by using plastic pipes. Fire trucks were even used to give water on Sansha Island of Fuding City.

Industrial production was influenced as well because of power shortage.

The dry weather was caused by subtropical high pressure and fewer and weaker typhoons this year. It was unlikely to change and would probably last until the coming February, said Liu.

(Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2003)