The Shaanxi floods have left 38 dead, with 34 missing, according to the most recent official figures.

A new flood crest is predicted to arrive at the province's Hua county Monday, and could raise water flow to 2,500 cubic meters (87,500 cubic feet) per second, the Shaanxi Meteorological Station was quoted by the Xinhua news agency as saying.

The county, like several others in Shaanxi, has been battered by torrential rains and inundated by floodwaters in the past week as the Wei River suffered its worst floods in 20 years.

"We've already relocated more than 10,000 people in anticipation of the flood crest," Xie Yong, a Hua county disaster relief command center official told AFP.

Almost five million people have been affected by flooding in the basin of the Wei River, one of the main tributaries of the Yellow River.

More than 100 villages and 66,700 hectares of fields were submerged, Xinhua said.

Relief teams as well as military troops were sent to the embankments to repair dyke breaches. Medical staff have also been stationed in the affected areas to prevent outbreak of epidemics.

In southern Shaanxi, a flood crest on the Han river, which is a tributary for China's longest river the Yangtze, has already reached Ankang city Sunday, forcing the evacuation of 2,500 people, said Chen Xili, an official with the provincial flood-control office.

Water was flowing at a rapid rate, Chen said.

There is no reprieve in sight as more rainy days are forecast in most parts of the province and storms in the eastern part next week.

Meanwhile, a major reservoir in central China's Henan Province has begun discharging floodwater to prevent an overflow, Xinhua said.

The Xiaolandi Reservoir, which serves as a major water conservancy and irrigation facility on the Yellow River, started discharging floodwaters Saturday, after storing an additional 2.11 billion cubic meters of water in a matter of ten days when the middle reaches of the river flooded.

The water level in the reservoir hit 246 meters by Saturday morning, nearly reaching the alarm level of 248 meters.

If the reservoir did not promptly discharge the water, the level was likely to hit 248 meters on Monday, Xinhua quoted officials as saying.

TERRA.WIRE