CRI听力:New Round of Torrential Rains to Hit Hunan

Forecasters are warning of another round of torrential rains in the central Chinese province of Hunan over the coming days.

Luo Yijun, deputy director of Hunan's Flood Control Office, says a number of cities in the province should be prepared for more flooding. "At present, we are focusing on trying to prevent flooding in the city of Huaihua in the southwest of the province. We're also forecasting heavy rains for the cities of Shaoyang, Loudi, Xiangtan, Hengyang and Zhuzhou. The new storm system is expected to linger in the region until at least Tuesday."

Crews have been dispatched to different parts of Hunan to reinforce reservoirs.

Heavy flooding in Hunan and neighboring Guangxi this past week has already left over 30-people dead.

The annual monsoon flooding in the region has also toppled some 25-thousand homes and has forced the evacuation of close to 200-thousand others.

The National Meteorological Center has issued a yellow rain alert for Sunday and Monday for other parts of the region, including Guizhou, Chongqing, Hubei, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Yellow is the 3rd highest alert on China's four-tier color-coded warning system.

But at the same time, the southern island province of Hainan is said to be coping with its worst drought in half-a-century.

The city of Sanya has only registered 16-millimeters of rain so far this year, the lowest figure since 1956.

This has forced local officials to enact water-rationing programs, with water consuming businesses being forced to cut their water consumption by at least 10-percent.