Water supplies have been restored to 300,000 people in a city in northeast China's Jilin Province.

Tonghua City had been without tap water since Saturday after a flood damaged pipelines and the water plant.

"Finally," said 71-year-old resident Guan Changren yesterday, as he watched water run from the tap he had just turned on. "Now we can shower and wash our clothes."

In the past four days, the city government organized 150,000 boxes of mineral water for the city's residents to drink and more than 20 fire trucks to supply water for other everyday uses.

"We did have water to wash ourselves and flush toilets over the past days," said Sheng Hong, a local resident who lives in the city's Longquan Community.

For those who had no water to flush their toilet, authorities opened facilities at schools, organizations and companies.

The city authorities are inspecting more than 180 public toilets every day to ensure cleanliness.

Rainstorms have pelted Jilin Province since late July, setting record-high precipitation levels in 13 counties of seven cities. The rain-triggered floods have left 74 people dead and 71 others missing.

More than 170,000 residents in the province have been evacuated to 400 safe places, including schools, government offices and welfare organizations, and another 310,000 people have turned to friends or relatives for temporaryaccommodation.

Some residents have set up make-shift shelters.

"We made a plastic shelter on the mountain behind my house on Saturday, when we were hit by a rainstorm. We can stay here when the heavy rains come," said Bi Jian'an, a villager in Baishan City.

In Changshan Town, Huadian City, three officials have been sacked for failing to discharge floodwaters at the Dahe Reservoir. The decision not to discharge left more then 40 people dead or missing in downstream villages after the reservoir breached its banks.

The floods have also destroyed 677 bridges and damaged 51 water reservoirs in the province since July 27.

Direct industrial losses now exceed 3 billion yuan (US$443 million) after more than 300 companies were forced to halt or reduce production amid the floods and continuous downpours.

Premier Wen Jiabao visited the flood-hit town of Yongji County in Jilin over the past two days, urging local officials to increase efforts to repairreservoir damage and prevent further flooding.

Heavy rains pounded parts of north China yesterday, including Beijing, Hebei, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia.

In Jilin's Linjiang City, where the temperature dropped to 20 degrees Celsius, many relocated residents were wearing only short-sleeved shirts. "The government has provided us with food, water, quilts and clothes," said Wu Yuli, a Linjiang City resident evacuated to a school.

Jilin has received 1 million yuan (US$147,633) from Shanghai and 3 million yuan from Zhejiang Province for rescue and relief work.

• province [´prɔvins] n.省；领域；范围 (初中英语单词)
• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• shower [´ʃauə] n.展出者；阵雨；淋浴 (初中英语单词)
• mineral [´minərəl] n.矿物 a.矿物的 (初中英语单词)
• missing [´misiŋ] a.缺掉的；失踪的 (初中英语单词)
• welfare [´welfeə] n.福利(事业) (初中英语单词)
• discharge [dis´tʃɑ:dʒ] vt.&n.卸货；释放；解雇 (初中英语单词)
• industrial [in´dʌstriəl] a.工业的，产业的 (初中英语单词)
• exceed [ik´si:d] v.超(胜)过；凌驾 (初中英语单词)
• continuous [kən´tinjuəs] a.连续不断的；延长的 (初中英语单词)
• premier [´premiə] n.总理 a.首要的 (初中英语单词)
• repair [ri´peə] v.&n.修理，修补 (初中英语单词)
• rescue [´reskju:] vt.&n.救援；挽救 (初中英语单词)
• relief [ri´li:f] n.救济；援救；减轻 (初中英语单词)
• northeast [,nɔ:θ´i:st] n.东北 a.东北的 (高中英语单词)
• resident [´rezidənt] a.居住的 n.居民 (高中英语单词)
• everyday [´evridei] a.每日的，日常的 (高中英语单词)
• community [kə´mju:niti] n.团体；社区；公众 (高中英语单词)
• toilet [´tɔilit] n.梳妆(台)；卫生间 (高中英语单词)
• temporary [´tempərəri] a.暂时的 n.临时工 (高中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
• cleanliness [´kli:nlinis] n.清洁 (英语四级单词)
• setting [´setiŋ] n.安装；排字；布景 (英语四级单词)
• accommodation [ə,kɔmə´deiʃən] n.供应；调解；贷款 (英语四级单词)
• reservoir [´rezəvwɑ:] n.水库；蓄水池 (英语四级单词)
• villager [´vilidʒə] n.村民 (英语六级单词)
• downstream [,daun´stri:m] a.&ad.下流的，顺流的 (英语六级单词)