Flood emergency alert

　　CHINA declared an emergency yesterday in its central province of Hunan, where a rain-swollen lake edged closer to bursting its banks, threatening to engulf millions of people.Flood officials were given special powers to commandeer labor, land and materials, according to a statement posted on the provincial government Web site.Soldiers were put on alert around Dongting Lake, the country’s second-largest fresh water lake that shields more than 10 million people.Dongting had already risen 1.5 meters over the 32-meter flood warning mark in the last three days, sources said. It is now at its highest level in almost three years. The scene is reminiscent of the disaster four years ago when the Dongting burst its banks, causing the worst floods in decades. China’s summer floods, which began early this year, have already killed more than 900 people, prompting warnings from government officials that they could be more deadly than in 1998. State television reported yesterday that there was no immediate danger of flooding.Elsewhere in Hunan, the Xiangjiang River that flows through the provincial capital of Changsha is at an all-time high, CCTV said.(SD-Agencies)