Meteorology provides key to flood control

The most critical moment for residents of the Mengwa Flood Diversion Area in Funan county, Anhui province, came on June 14, 1991, when the water of the Huaihe River surpassed the safe level of 28.66 meters at the Wangjiaba sluice gates.

The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters gave an order to open the sluice gates at midnight, and divert the flood into the Mengwa area. That meant the residents would have to be evacuated immediately.

"I even heard that explosives had been prepared, for fear that the sluice gates would not open," said Liu Xiaochang, retired chief engineer at the Anhui Meteorological Center.