China raises flood alert to second highest level

China raised its flood response alert on Sunday to the second highest level as heavy rain battered regions along the Yangtze River, with the eastern provinces of Jiangsu and Jiangxi among the worst hit, state media reported. Flooding in the Poyang county of Jiangxi pushed water levels of Lake Poyang, China's biggest freshwater lake, to above 22.52 metres (74 feet), a historical high and well above the alert level of 19.50 metres (64 feet). By Saturday evening, provincial military authorities had