Aerial photo taken on July 11, 2020 shows people reinforcing temporary waterproof dyke to stop the flood at Jiangjialing Village in Poyang County, east China's Jiangxi Province. East China's Jiangxi Province on Saturday upgraded its emergency response for flood control from level II to level I. (Xinhua/Zhou Mi)

East China's Jiangxi Province Saturday raised its flood-control response from level II to level I, the top level of China's four-tier emergency response for floods.

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

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

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

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.