The dikes "are no longer able to hold up the floodwater, which is overflowing the river's inner dikes toward nearby shoal areas at the lower reaches," said Liu Xueshan, deputy head of Dongming county in Shandong.

Water pouring through the burst dikes has surged through low-lying areas of eastern Shangdong province, endangering the lives of residents in 127 villages and submerging some 10,800 hectares of cropland, the Xinhua News Agency reported Liu as saying.

Only 5,593 of those threatened by the flooding have been evacuated, among them the elderly, sick and children, said Yuan Min, director of the Disaster Mitigation and Relief Office of the Civil Affairs Bureau in Heze city, Xinhua reported.

According to Liu, floodwaters in low-lying areas have risen 3.5 meters, Xinhua reported.

Some 56,000 people have been organized to help evacuate flood victims, and the government has provided 450 tents, 6,000 meters of plastic sheeting and 15 tons of wheat flour, Xinhua said.

Shaanxi province, which suffered heavy flooding more than a more ago, also faced rising waters on the Wei river, an official to AFP.

"We are better prepared than last time but the work is hard because the dams are weakened by the constant rains," district propaganda official Wei Sixing said.

By the beginning of September, 430,000 people had been forced to evacuate by floods in Shaanxi province.

TERRA.WIRE