2010-06-23 06:48

Photo taken on June 22, 2010 shows a flooded village in Fuzhou, Jiangxi province. [Photo/Xinhua]???More Pictures

FUZHOU, Jiangxi - Looking at the scattered house tops emerging from the muddy floodwater, Wang Mubao, of Wangjiacun village in Fuzhou city, East China's Jiangxi province, prayed for help and for his family from the roof of his two-storied house.

After spending one and a half days in the outdoors waiting for aid to arrive, and only eating a single meal during that period, the fragile 66-year-old was finally rescued by the first boat to arrive, along with more than 20 other lucky villagers.

"The water rose so quickly that I did not have time to take any food. In one and a half days, no boats could be seen from my roof," Wang told China Daily.

He was fortunate, compared to the remaining 1,000 villagers who have spent more than two days on their roofs without food or fresh water to drink.

Meanwhile, the floodwater continued to rise after a dyke in the nearby Fuhe River was breached overnight, spreading out from an area of 60 meters to 400 meters by Tuesday morning as the rainstorms continued to batter South China.

The breaching of the dyke immediately endangered 145,000 residents downstream, as well as 8,193 hectares of arable land, the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said on Tuesday.

China Central Television Station showed footage taken from a helicopter of what it described as a "boundless expanse of water", covering farmland, roads and residential areas.

"We badly need boats, fuel and people who know the area," said Cai Xinhui, a 36-year-old man, who was rescued at the same time as Wang.

More than 760 rescue boats have already been sent to retrieve 91,000 stranded river residents and more than 1,500 temporary tents have been set up in 17 settlements, according to the latest statistics from the Fuzhou city government.

No deaths were reported as of Tuesday afternoon, according to officials in Fuzhou.

President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have called for "all-out efforts to combat floods and save lives" following the dyke's collapse, Xinhua News Agency said.

More than 15,000 soldiers and government officials are scrambling to plug the breach and move residents.

A new round of heavy rain is expected to hit South China from Wednesday to Saturday, with 260 mm of rain expected in parts.