Water levels on the mainstreams of the Yangtze River middle reaches exceeded the flood warning line from Thursday to Friday due to continuous intense rainfall, the first time the river exceeded the mark this year.

The Office of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters also announced Friday that some mainstreams of the Yangtze had been hit by severe floods.

As of 8 a.m. Friday, the water level at the Wulong hydraulic station on the Wujiang River, a trunk stream of the upper reaches of Yangtze reached 192.33 meters, 0.33 meters higher than the warning line.

As of 10 p.m. Thursday, the water level at the Jinshi hydraulic station on the Lishui River, a tributary of the Yangtze, rose to 45.02 meters, a record since the station was founded in 1952.

As of 8 a.m. Friday, the water level at Jianli hydraulic station on the mainstream of Yangtze reached 35.01 meters, 0.01 meters higher than the warning line.

(Xinhua News Agency July 12, 2003)