At the top of the program, we continue our coverage of the severe floods sweeping through central, east, and west China. The Ministry of Civil Affairs says the extreme weather has affected around 29 million people. 160 people have died, and over 1.8 million people have been evacuated. Economic losses stand at around 57.8 billion yuan.

The National Meteorological Center has issued another heavy rain alert, as a strong storm system moves inland along the Yangtze River. The weather system could trigger more flash floods in Sichuan province in southwest China. The region could get another 400 millimeters of rain in the next few days. That is twice the amount of rainfall that the region received during the same period last year.

The Three Gorges Dam has closed some of its water gates to reduce the amount of water it discharges downstream by 5,000 cubic meters per second. That has helped ease pressure for a number of downstream provinces including -- Jiangsu, Hubei, Hunan, Anhui and Jiangxi.

But officials say nearly one thousand dikes are still in danger of breaking.  2 million rescuers have been sent to threatened areas to handle emergency situations.

More floods have swept through Yibin city in Sichuan province. Two people died as a result. Authorities have stopped ships from sailing in the region.  Mudslides, caused by the rain, have cut off highways in Meishan city and Ganzi county. Cleanup efforts are currently underway.