Rescuers repair a road in Puladi Town in southwest China's Yunnan Province yesterday. The death toll from mudslides in the remote mountain town has risen to 29, with 63 people still missing. The mudslides struck Puladi last Wednesday, burying villages under a deep sludge of mud. Rescue and relief efforts have been hampered by continuous rain.

Some 253,500 residents have been safely evacuated in northeast China's Liaoning Province after torrential rain caused waters to rise to their highest level in more than a decade along a major river bordering China and North Korea.

The residents were relocated in less than 24 hours between late Saturday and yesterday, provincial flood control authorities said.

Four people were killed and one was still missing due to floods in the city of Dandong, facing Sin'uiju City in North Korea.

Heavy rain that began last Thursday had swollen Yalu River, which marks the border of China and North Korea. On Saturday night, the water level at one monitoring station in Dandong was 2.35 meters above the warning line, the second highest since records began in 1934.

Water levels began to dip late yesterday as the rain stopped, but provincial authorities warned that the danger had not yet passed.

Workers are racing to build sandbag flood barriers along parts of the river where the water overflowed.

More than 2,000 soldiers and crews were mobilized to rescue stranded residents. About 70 vehicles, 38 speedboats and six helicopters were used in rescue operations.

The flooding caused 361 houses to collapse and cut transport links, communications and power supplies in some areas.

Rainfall of up to 65 centimeters was recorded in the worst-hit areas.

In most parts of the Yalu River basin it ranged from 20cm to 40cm, said Wang Dianwu, director of Dandong's hydrographic bureau.

China has been suffering from a string of rain-triggered disasters recently as the country battles its worst floods in more than a decade.

In the southwestern province of Yunnan, 29 people were killed and 63 remained missing as of yesterday, four days after mudslides hit the remote mountain town of Puladi.

"The chances of survival for the missing people are slim as the mudslides occurred more than 72 hours ago," Hou Xinrong, director of the public securitybureau in Gongshan County, said on Saturday.

Flooding blocked delivery of relief supplies to Puladi Town. Traffic on a road bridge was cut after the flooding of the Dongyuegu River.

Vehicles transporting relief goods to the town are taking a 90 minute detour until the floodwaters subside. Residents living near the river have been evacuated.

Local officials were ordered to carry out pre-emptive evacuations to avoid heavy casualties.

Minister of Land and Resources Xu Shaoshi ordered local officials not to hesitate in forcing residents in disasters-threatened zones to move.

"As long as there is a sign of geological disasters looming, officials should take it seriously and carry out the evacuations," Xu said.

• repair [ri´peə] v.&n.修理，修补 (初中英语单词)
• 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)
• remote [ri´məut] a.遥远的；偏僻的 (初中英语单词)
• missing [´misiŋ] a.缺掉的；失踪的 (初中英语单词)
• wednesday [´wenzdi] n.星期三 (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)
• continuous [kən´tinjuəs] a.连续不断的；延长的 (初中英语单词)
• safely [´seifli] ad.安全地；平安地 (初中英语单词)
• transport [træn´spɔ:t] n.运输；流放 (初中英语单词)
• rainfall [´reinfɔ:l] n.雨量 (初中英语单词)
• director [di´rektə] n.指导者；....长；导演 (初中英语单词)
• bureau [´bjuərəu] n.局；编辑部；事务所 (初中英语单词)
• suffering [´sʌfəriŋ] n.痛苦；灾害 (初中英语单词)
• security [si´kjuəriti] n.安全；证券；抵押品 (初中英语单词)
• traffic [´træfik] n.交通，运输 (初中英语单词)
• minister [´ministə] n.部长；大臣 v.伺候 (初中英语单词)
• hesitate [´heziteit] vi.犹豫，踌躇 (初中英语单词)
• seriously [´siəriəsli] ad.严肃；严重，重大 (初中英语单词)
• southwest [,sauθ´west] n.&a.西南(方)(的) (高中英语单词)
• northeast [,nɔ:θ´i:st] n.东北 a.东北的 (高中英语单词)
• decade [´dekeid] n.十年(间) (高中英语单词)
• collapse [kə´læps] vi.&n.崩溃；病倒；衰败 (高中英语单词)
• delivery [di´livəri] n.送交；分娩；交货 (高中英语单词)
• provincial [prə´vinʃəl] a.省的 n.外省人 (英语四级单词)
• swollen [´swəulən] swell的过去分词 (英语四级单词)
• warning [´wɔ:niŋ] n.警告；前兆 a.预告的 (英语四级单词)
• bridge [bridʒ] n.桥(梁)；鼻梁；桥牌 (英语四级单词)
• southwestern [,sauθ´westən] a.西南的 (英语六级单词)
• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
• geological [dʒiə´lɔdʒikəl] a.地质学的 (英语六级单词)