Early warnings help flood-hit rural residents

Measures are being taken to reduce the number of casualties and the damage caused by flooding of small and medium-sized rivers during the rainy season in southern China, as Xu Wei reports from Guiding, Guizhou province.

Zhao Zegao never dreamed the rocky creek that flows near his home could pose a threat to his home and farmland. At least, not until the night of May 19 when his village was hit by what Zhao described as "the largest downpour I have ever seen in my life".

The 59-year-old resident of Nongzhuang village in Dingdong county, Guizhou province, was attending a dinner when a three-hour storm brought 146.2 millimeters of rain and caused the babbling brook to become a raging torrent that burst its banks, flooding the village within an hour.