China Insight Tour - Sept 9 - China Flooding?

Hi all,

Is anyone else going on the China Insight Tour, Sept 9th? (Sept 9-23, HK to Beijing.)

I've heard of massive flooding in the area (see below). Don't know how this will effect the trip. . .

Liz

Floods continue to harass country
(LIANG CHAO)
08/17/2002

Floods, landslides and mudflows - the season's worst rain-induced
calamities - continue to pose a severe threat to many parts of the
country.

The waterway of China's longest river, the Yangtze, was closed yesterday
at the Three Gorges at Yichang in Hubei Province as a precaution against
the season's flood peak. The peaking floods, the most voluminous so far
this year, forced the closing of the water-diversion canal and the
temporary shiplock of the Three Gorges project through which all ships
must pass during construction, according to the latest reports.
The closure will affect hundreds of passenger ships, forcing authorities
to shuttle thousands of passengers across the dam site with buses.

By 8:00 pm today, the flood, caused by torrential rains in Sichuan
Province, Chongqing Municipality and other areas upstream, is expected to
crest with 46,000 cubic metres of water per second passing through the
construction site of the huge Three Gorges Dam, navigation officials said.
Navigation must be limited at the dam's diversion canal as soon as water
hits a volume of 30,000 cubic metres, the officials said.
And temporary shiplifts must be closed when water-flow reaches 45,000
cubic metres per second, they added.

Elsewhere, heavy rains over the past few days have caused floods,
landslides and mudflows in Jiangxi, Sichuan, Hunan and Yunnan provinces.
At least 133 people have been confirmed dead. The latest casualties push
this year's flooding death toll to more than 900 based on recent official
statistics and subsequent reports.

By July 8, at least 793 people were reported killed by the floods that
have swept over China's 25 provinces. More than 100 million people have
been affected in some way, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Early this month, rainstorms and floods killed 108 people in Central
China's Hunan Province, according to local officials.
Heavy rains have been hitting the province since August 5, causing severe
floods and landslides, which are damaging major railways and highways, the
officials said. The disaster has affected 38 million people in Hunan and
has caused some 18.4 billion yuan (US$2.24 billion) in economic loss.
The local government has mobilized military forces to help evacuate the
affected people and reconstruct the roads. Quilts, clothes and food have
been delivered to many stricken areas across the country.