ZHENGZHOU - A working team under the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has provided guidance on flood control and disaster relief in the central province of Henan, which has been hit by heavy rains.

Headed by Zhou Xuewen, secretary-general of the headquarters and vice minister of emergency management, the team on Saturday entered severely affected regions in the province, including the provincial capital Zhengzhou and the cities of Hebi and Anyang.

While stressing the importance of water drainage in urban areas, the team said that power and water supply, telecommunication, medical and transport services must be restored as soon as possible.

It also called for efforts to ramp up the monitoring of high-risk river dams, relocate at-risk residents as quickly as possible, and appropriately allocate supplies as needed.

By 4 pm Saturday, more than 9.3 million people across Henan had been affected by the latest heavy downpours and floods. Over 1.1 million local residents have been relocated to safer areas.