31.   The punishing flood crest has been rolling down the river through Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois.

32.   The Yangtze lapped near the top of dikes in Wuhan as the sixth flood crest since early July passed through the industrial center overnight, state television said.

33.   Torrential rains upriver in Sichuan province could trigger yet another flood crest, the official newspaper China Daily reported.

34.   While the flood crest was not expected to reach the highs of those that preceded it, flood fighters were told to prepare.

35.   Xinhua reported that flooding had begun along the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and that a flood crest would sweep through the eastern coastal province of Shandong.