Three people were killed and 44,400 residents displaced in floods caused by torrential rains in parts of east China's Anhui Province since last Wednesday.

The provincial government on Wednesday launched a natural disaster emergency response mechanism by sending working groups to flood-hit areas, mostly regions along the flood-prone Huaihe River and those north to the river to organize and give guidance in flood control and relief operations.

Parts of Anhui, including Chuzhou, Suzhou, Bengbu, Huaibei, Bozhou and Fuyang have been stricken by heavy rains or downpour since June 28, driving up the level of water in many tributaries of Huaihe river and leading to floods in the above mentioned areas, said information from the civil affairs bureau of the provincial government.

Affected by the floods are 4.12 million residents, of whom, 25,400 have been suffering from a difficulty of finding drinking water. And 380,667 hectares of crops have been destroyed by the floods, and the direct economic losses are placed at 810 million yuan (about US$101 million), according to the sources.

The flood situation will be alleviated in the forthcoming days, said a local official, who cited a forecast given by the local meteorological department predicting the prolonged torrential rains in the province would cease as of Wednesday, though an overcast and rainy weather might stay for sometime.

(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2006)