BEIJING, July 9: Floods have spread to more provinces in China with over a third of the country’s reservoirs now threatened, and no let up in the torrential rain is forecast, state press said Wednesday.

The downpours are expected to make flood control work increasingly difficult in the three worst-affected provinces of Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu, which the swollen Huai River passes through.

The Central Meteorological Station said more torrential rain, thundershowers and hurricanes were forecast and warned of flooding and disasters such as landslides, the China Daily said.

It said parts of Guizhou, Hunan and Hubei provinces would also suffer heavy rain.

Since earlier this month, the water level in most sections of the Huai River has exceeded the peaks seen in 1991 when a massive flood occurred, with the entire main stream above the flood warning line.

More than one million people have been stranded in the river valley and nearly 380,000 living on the valley floor in Anhui have been moved to higher ground, with 13 deaths recorded so far in the three provinces.

The Minister of Water Resources Wang Sucheng warned the safety of 30,413 of the country’s 86,000 water reservoirs was threatened by floods despite 11.2 billion yuan (1.35 billion dollars) spent in recent years to maintain them.

Most are in densely populated areas, economic centres and close to transport routes, the Xinhua news agency said.

The focus Wednesday moved from Anhui to Jiangsu further east with the river’s main stream flood crest approaching Hongze Lake, China’s fourth largest freshwater lake, said Xinhua.

Some 68,000 people living near the lake, which serves as a catchment for the Huai River, are being urgently evacuated.

By Wednesday morning, the lake’s water level had risen 0.58 meters above the 13.5-meter warning mark, which is higher than in 1991 when the lake suffered one of its biggest floods in history.

The water is continuing to rise and local flood control authorities are preparing to divert it from the lake to Baoji and four other towns, prompting the relocation of people in those areas.

Affected areas now also include Hunan and Hebei provinces.

By Wednesday, floods had hit the Wujiang River, a major branch of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and Dongting Lake in the middle reaches of the Yangtze, China’s longest river.

Weather problems also caused deaths in other provinces.

On Monday, four people were killed in Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi province in China’s northwest due to flooding and other problems caused by a sudden thunderstorm, the China News Service said.

Earlier this month, official media said rains in south China had left at least 148 people dead and affected 45 million.

It was not clear whether the earlier death toll included the 28 reported in southwest China’s Chongqing municipality Wednesday.

Xinhua said they were killed in mud-rock flows, landslides and other geological disasters caused by torrential rains since late June, which also destroyed 50,000 houses and ruined 293 schools.

Hail and storms killed seven people in northwest China’s Gansu province on Monday and Saturday. Five were swept away by mountain torrents and two teenagers were killed by lightning.

The disaster affected nearly 15,000 households and destroyed thousands of hectares of farmland.

Meanwhile, torrential rains in east China’s Nanjing city contributed to the collapse of a 600-year-old city wall, Xinhua said.

TORNADO: A fierce tornado left 16 people dead and 162 injured after it swept through a county in eastern China’s Anhui province late Tuesday night and early Wednesday.