Floods, landslides ravage China
From CNN Correspondent Lisa Rose Weaver
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Millions are working around the clock to build and monitor dikes.
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BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Weeks of heavy rain have caused at least three landslides along with heavy flooding in central and eastern China.
The landslides happened over the weekend in Tibet, Sichuan, and Hubei provinces, China's official Xinhua news agency said Monday.
In eastern China, there was a break Monday in rising water levels on the upper reaches of the Huai River. Farther downstream, however, the levels remained high in the eastern province of Jiangsu and at Hongze Lake.
Residents near the lake remained on high alert, trying to man the dikes to contain the river or divert the water to release pressure.
About a million people have been evacuated in Anhui, Jiangsu, and Hunan provinces so that water can be diverted to farmland there in order to protect the cities.
An estimated 1.5 million people were working shifts to monitor the dikes for signs of leakage.
China experiences serious flooding every summer, but this year's floods are the worst the area has seen since 1991.
So far this season, an estimated $5 million dollars has been lost in the hardest-hit provinces. More losses have been incurred because of the projected loss in agriculture from flooding -- mostly in Anhui province -- than from losses in infrastructure.
The flooding is one of the reasons officials justify the still-controversial Three Gorges Dam, saying it can prevent some of the flooding and reduce soil erosion.
Authorities were unsure of the toll from weekend landslides, but scores of people were missing and feared dead.
One person was confirmed dead from the mudslides that hit Sichuan province on Friday night, and 50 people were still missing Sunday, The Associated Press reported.
"It is difficult to predict if anyone can be rescued," said an official who gave only his surname, Cai. "It was raining hard, the earth was loose, and the mud just swept down the mountain," said another official who refused to give her name.
