英语文摘:Emergency response plan launched for flood relief in south China

BEIJING, June 2 (Xinhua) -- China's disaster relief authorities Wednesday launched an emergency response plan to help victims of the rainstorms and flooding in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which has left at least 30 dead.

The China National Committee for Disaster Reduction and the Ministry of Civil Affairs initiated a level IV emergency response plan and dispatched a working team to help guide relief work in the flood-hit zone.

Heavy rains began pounding many places in Guangxi Monday and triggered landslides early Wednesday. The disaster has left 30 dead and 18 missing, according to latest official figures.

Villagers carry their belongings in the flood at Shanglang Village of Gupeng Township in Xincheng County in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, June 2, 2010.

More than 80,000 local people had been evacuated from their homes as of 7 p.m. Wednesday, said a notice on the ministry website.

More than 2.1 million people in Guangxi were affected by the disaster and more than 4,200 homes had been damaged, the notice said.

The ministry had allocated a batch of relief materials, including 2,000 tents, the notice said.

Guangxi's regional civil affairs department also initiated a level-IV emergency response plan Wednesday noon, allocating 1,200 tents and 1,000 cotton quilts to help settle victims.

Under a level IV plan, the lowest of the four responses, the committee and the ministry should send a working team within 24 hours to the disaster zone and allocate relief materials within 48 hours.

According to the ministry's working regulation on emergency response issued last year, emergency response plans should be initiated to help with relief work in natural disasters across the country. The level depends on damages and losses as well as the number of affected people.