Armed policemen move sand bags for dyke reinforcement in Jiangjialing of Poyang county, East China's Jiangxi province, July 11, 2020. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING – China's Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) on Sunday raised the emergency response for flood control to level II, the second-highest in the response system, as heavy downpours continued to lash vast stretches of the country.

Jiangxi province in East China, earlier on Saturday, raised its flood-control response from level II to level I, the top level of the country’s four-tier emergency response for floods.

Since July 4, floods have been observed in 212 rivers nationwide, triggering alerts. Of the rivers, 19 topped previous water level records, according to the MWR.

The country upgraded the emergency response for flood control from level IV to level III on Tuesday.

According to the Jiangxi provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters, 2,242 km of the 2,545 km of riverside and lakeside embankments in the province have seen water levels exceeding the warning marks.

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This July 11, 2020 aerial view of Jiangtan Park in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, shows the points where the Yangtze River is spilling its banks. (CHEN ZHUO / FOR CHINA DAILY)

Floods since July 6 have affected over 5 million people and damaged over 443,000 hectares of crops, the headquarters said on Saturday.

The province has evacuated 405,000 people from flood-prone areas, with a total of 154,000 people in urgent need of living assistance. More than 41,700 people are fighting the floods in Jiangxi, aided by 537 sets of mechanical equipment.

In this July 11, 2020 photo, people take boats to commute in Rongshui county, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

The province has increased patrol forces for round-the-clock monitoring of risks along the embankments.

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In Dongzhi County, neighboring Anhui province, floods had affected more than 260,000 people, or about half of the county's population, as of Friday. 

More than 6,667 hectares of crops were destroyed, said Yu Jianguo, deputy director of the Dongzhi county emergency management bureau.

The water level in Taihu Lake, the country's second-largest freshwater lake, has risen above the alert level for 15 consecutive days, said the MWR.