HEFEI -- The Huaihe River Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources issued a blue alert for flooding on Thursday night, as a key hydrological station of the river may see its water exceed the warning level in the coming days.

The 1,000-km-long Huaihe River is one of China's major waterways, running through the east of the country between the Yangtze and Yellow rivers.

At 7 pm Thursday, the water level at Wangjiaba Station rose to 26.91 meters, only 0.59 meters below the warning level. The station is forecast to see water exceed the danger line from Thursday to Saturday due to the downpours in Huaihe River.

The commission also activated a Level IV emergency response for flood and drought disaster prevention at 8 pm Thursday, and called for the water conservancy departments in provinces along the Huaihe River, including Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu, to make full preparations for the flood control.