The State Council Information Office held a regular policy briefing on Thursday morning regarding the arrangements that were made at the recent executive meeting of the State Council for flood prevention, disaster relief and post-disaster recovery.

Zhou Xuewen, secretary general of the National Flood Control and Drought Relief Command Headquarters, deputy minister of Emergency Management and deputy minister of Water Resources indicated, during the flood season of this year, 751 rivers have experienced floods with major rivers and lakes like the Yangtze River, Yellow River and Lake Taihu visited by 18 numbered floods. He said, in comparison to previous floods, this year's floods had led to more financial loss for people. Fortunately, with the efforts of the government and the people, the number for dead and missing has dropped, and the number of collapsed houses has decreased as well.

According to the instruction of President Xi Jinping and the deployment requirements of the State Council executive meeting on August 26, Zhou indicated that the works for flood prevention and post-disaster recovery are going to focus on five aspects: To prevent possible disasters for the areas that are still in flood season, to offer support for production restoration of flooded areas like Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Sichuan and other provinces, to make efforts in resettling people and helping them to rebuild houses, to strengthen disaster relief support for people in need and to coordinate the building of natural disaster prevention and control capabilities.

(Cover image: Flooding in Yunnan Province, southwest China)

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at nature@cgtn.com.)