China warns of severe floods this year

 BEIJING, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The national flood and drought prevention office has warned that severe floods are more likely to occur this year due to markedly increased rainfall, according to Sunday media reports.

Floods may cause greater damage this year and the possibility of massive floods along the country's rivers cannot be ruled out, the office of the state flood control and drought relief headquarters was quoted as saying in a report by the People's Daily.

Floods have occurred along several tributaries¹ of the Yangtze River, China's longest river, on a dangerous scale during the current flood season, the report said, quoting Wu Daoxi, an official in charge of the Yangtze River flood and drought prevention office.

Water levels on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze are one to three meters greater than the historical average, Wu said.

The Yangtze River valley was last hit by massive floods in 1998. The chance for large-scale flooding is significantly higher now, Wu said.

Heavy floods are also likely to occur along the Huaihe River, a major waterway in central China, the report quoted Zhang Jiatuan, deputy head of the state flood and drought prevention office, as saying.

The report said precipitation levels are likely to increase by more than 20 to 50 percent above normal levels near the northeastern end of the Huaihe River and the Yellow River valley this summer.

The Pearl River, China's third-longest river, will probably see regional floods or droughts in its valley this year due to the unbalanced distribution of rainfall, the report quoted Liu Zhisen, a hydrology official from the Pearl River water resources commission, as saying.

Authorities have discharged some water from mid- and large-sized reservoirs along the Yangtze River, including the Three Gorges² Reservoir, to prepare them for storing floodwaters, according to the report.

The Chinese government has spent heavily on dam and dike³ projects after massive flooding on parts of the Yangtze River killed 4,150 people in 1998.

1 tributaries   

n. 支流

参考例句：

• In such areas small tributaries or gullies will not show. 在这些地区，小的支流和冲沟显示不出来。
• These tributaries are subsequent streams which erode strike valley. 这些支流系即为蚀出走向谷的次生河。

2 gorges   

n.山峡，峡谷( gorge的名词复数 )；咽喉v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 )；作呕

参考例句：

• The explorers were confronted with gorges(that were)almost impassable and rivers(that were)often unfordable. 探险人员面临着几乎是无路可通的峡谷和常常是无法渡过的河流。 来自辞典例句
• We visited the Yangtse Gorges last summer. 去年夏天我们游历了长江三峡。 来自辞典例句

3 dike   

n.堤，沟；v.开沟排水

参考例句：

• They dug a dike along walls of the school.他们沿校墙挖沟。
• Fortunately,the flood did not break the dike.还好，这场大水没有把堤坝冲坏。