Rain threatens to raise China flood waters

FLOODWATERS threatening several cities and dozens of villages along central China’s vast Dongting Lake held at dangerously high levels yesterday, but could rise as heavy rain was forecast.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported that storms that could dump up to two inches of rain by tomorrow were forecast to hit the northern part of Hunan province, where the lake is located, and the western provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan.

Meanwhile, a state of emergency has been declared along the flood-swollen Yangtze River in the major industrial city of Wuhan in Hubei province.