China this morning began a "massive" mobilisation of soldiers and civilians to combat flood waters that have driven over half a million people from their homes.
More than a million people, including 15,000 troops and 100,000 militia members, are working to shore up defences around Dongting Lake and surrounding rivers in the central province of Hunan.
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A million people are working to shore up defences around Dongting Lake.
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Over 600,000 people have already been evacuated from around the lake and 16 have died, according to official figures. A total of 415,000 hectares of crops have been damaged.
Ordering the "massive mobilising" of troops and workers, Vice-premier Mr Wen Jiabao warned the country "cannot afford to make mistakes".
Up to 10 million people could be engulfed if Dongting - likened by one aid worker to "a balloon filled with water" - spills over into one of China's most densely populated regions.
The 2,800-square-kilometre lake acts as a natural reservoir for the Yangtze River, leaving vast numbers at risk downstream, including seven million in the major industrial city of Wuhan.
The Xiang River, which runs through Hunan's capital city of Changsha is also dangerously swollen. In Changsha, several thousand people have already been forced out of their homes on Juzizhou, a small island in the centre of the river.
AFP