Soldiers try to push rocks into the Yangtze River yesterday, a last step to solidify the levees in Mianchuan Town of Jiujiang City in Jiangxi Province. Riverside towns in many parts of China have prepared for more flooding as water levels continued to surge. Floods this year throughout China had killed 823 people and left another 437 missing by yesterday morning.

Drenched riverside towns in central and southern parts of China yesterday prepared for even more flooding as water levels in the country's huge rivers surged and rainstorms continued.

In its latest update, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said floods this year have left 823 people dead and another 437 missing as of yesterday morning.

The direct economic loss had mounted to 154 billion yuan - more than double the flood losses incurred in any year since 2000.

More than 370,000 soldiers and residents have been mobilized to beef up flood prevention efforts in eight provinces and municipalities along the country's major rivers, the flood control headquarters said.

Around the nation:

? Mud flows hit a remoteriverside village in the western" target="_blank" title="a.西南的">southwesternprovince of Yunnan bordering Myanmar early yesterday, leaving 11 people missing and another 11 injured, local officials reported.

Unreachable

The village, near the region's key waterway Nujiang River, became very difficult to reach after rain-triggered landslides and mud flows blocked the mountainous trails, frustrating rescue efforts.

Officials said they were as yet unable to reach the injured.

In central Hubei Province, the government raised the flood alert to the second highest level.

The water flow rate into the Danjiangkou Reservoir from the Hanjiang River, the second largest branch of the Yangtze River, peaked at the highest in almost three decades, the provincialdisasterreliefheadquarters said, describing the flood-control situation as "very severe."

Water flow rates at the Three Gorges Dam at the mainstream of the upper Yangtze River - China's longest river - rose yesterday after a three-day lull.

The water flow rate hit 40,500 cubic meters per second in the morning, and it is expected to continue to rise until it peaks today.

Nearing record

Wu Daoxi, head of the Yangtze River Flood Control Office, said that the water level at the reservoir behind the Three Gorges Dam may reach 161.5 meters on Friday, a new record for the year and only about 13.5 meters under the reservoir's maximumholdingcapacity.

Wu has ordered engineers to increase the dischargevolume of the dam, a move that would relievepressure at the dam but pose challenges downstream.

Disaster prevention efforts were especially intensified in Wuhan City, where 9.1 million people live at the junction of the Hanjiang and the Yangtze, downstream of the Three Gorges Dam.

In western Henan Province, 37 people have been killed at Luoyang City, a culture-rich ancient capital and home to the World Heritage Longmen Grottoes.

The 1,500-year old grottoes have been closed since Saturday as waters from the Yihe River flooded trails.

Wang Qingru, a staff member, said the Buddha carvings and other cultural relics were not damaged.

• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• province [´prɔvins] n.省；领域；范围 (初中英语单词)
• missing [´misiŋ] a.缺掉的；失踪的 (初中英语单词)
• relief [ri´li:f] n.救济；援救；减轻 (初中英语单词)
• headquarters [´hed,kwɔ:təz] n.总部(署)，司令部 (初中英语单词)
• remote [ri´məut] a.遥远的；偏僻的 (初中英语单词)
• rescue [´reskju:] vt.&n.救援；挽救 (初中英语单词)
• unable [ʌn´eibəl] a.不能的；无能为力的 (初中英语单词)
• disaster [di´zɑ:stə] n.灾难，不幸 (初中英语单词)
• capacity [kə´pæsiti] n.容量；智能；能力 (初中英语单词)
• discharge [dis´tʃɑ:dʒ] vt.&n.卸货；释放；解雇 (初中英语单词)
• volume [´vɔlju:m, ´vɑljəm] n.卷；书籍；体积；容量 (初中英语单词)
• relieve [ri´li:v] v.救济，援救；减轻 (初中英语单词)
• pressure [´preʃə] n.压榨 vt.对...施压力 (初中英语单词)
• western [´westən] a.西的；西方的 (初中英语单词)
• cultural [´kʌltʃərəl] a.文化(上)的；教养的 (初中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
• maximum [´mæksiməm] n.极点 a.最大的 (高中英语单词)
• yangtze [´jæŋtsi:] n.长江 (英语四级单词)
• drought [draut] n.旱灾；干旱 (英语四级单词)
• prevention [pri´venʃən] n.预防；阻止；妨碍 (英语四级单词)
• mountainous [´mauntinəs] a.山多的；巨大的 (英语四级单词)
• reservoir [´rezəvwɑ:] n.水库；蓄水池 (英语四级单词)
• provincial [prə´vinʃəl] a.省的 n.外省人 (英语四级单词)
• junction [´dʒʌŋkʃən] n.连接；交叉点 (英语四级单词)
• heritage [´heritidʒ] n.遗产，继承物 (英语四级单词)
• riverside [´rivəsaid] n.河岸 a.河岸上的 (英语六级单词)
• southwestern [,sauθ´westən] a.西南的 (英语六级单词)
• holding [´həuldiŋ] n.保持，固定，存储 (英语六级单词)
• downstream [,daun´stri:m] a.&ad.下流的，顺流的 (英语六级单词)