The areas along the Yangtze River are likely to see more severe droughts and floods than usual this year, flood control authorities announced Monday.

During flood season this year, the river’s middle and lower reaches will see more rainfall while the upper area — except the Jinsha, Jialing, Min and Tuo rivers — will see up to 30 percent less precipitation than normal years, said Cui Jiangxue, deputy secretary-general of the Yangtze River Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

According to meteorological and hydrological forecasts, drought and floods in the river basin will occur at the same time, he said at a meeting in Wuhan, capital of central China’s Hubei Province.

The headquarters urged provinces and cities along the river to track weather conditions closely and improve flood control measures.

Heavy rain along the river since January has resulted in landslides and floods in some areas.

Due to rainfall in the middle and upper reaches, the volume of water entering the Three Gorges Reservoir almost doubled to 13,000 cubic meters per second in the 24 hours starting 2 p.m. Saturday.

The water inflow began to decrease Sunday afternoon and hit 10,200 cubic meters per second at 2 p.m. Monday — a record high since 1993. The inflow of the reservoir will continue to drop Tuesday.

More than 500 ships are waiting to pass through the dam’s ship locks.

The areas along the Yangtze River are likely to see more severe droughts and floods than usual this year, flood control authorities announced Monday.

During flood season this year, the river’s middle and lower reaches will see more rainfall while the upper area — except the Jinsha, Jialing, Min and Tuo rivers — will see up to 30 percent less precipitation than normal years, said Cui Jiangxue, deputy secretary-general of the Yangtze River Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

According to meteorological and hydrological forecasts, drought and floods in the river basin will occur at the same time, he said at a meeting in Wuhan, capital of central China’s Hubei Province.

The headquarters urged provinces and cities along the river to track weather conditions closely and improve flood control measures.

Heavy rain along the river since January has resulted in landslides and floods in some areas.

Due to rainfall in the middle and upper reaches, the volume of water entering the Three Gorges Reservoir almost doubled to 13,000 cubic meters per second in the 24 hours starting 2 p.m. Saturday.

The water inflow began to decrease Sunday afternoon and hit 10,200 cubic meters per second at 2 p.m. Monday — a record high since 1993. The inflow of the reservoir will continue to drop Tuesday.

More than 500 ships are waiting to pass through the dam’s ship locks.

Border police in southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region said Monday they had seized 537 products made from Siamese crocodiles, a protected species.

The products, including 370 pieces of crocodile skin, 90 tails and 77 specimens, were detected on a logistics vehicle attempting to cross the China-Vietnam border in early March.

The police thoroughly examined the vehicle after noticing that its goods were unusually placed. The driver also failed to provide official document for transporting the products.

The skins were around 43 centimeters wide and at least 1.2 meters long apiece. The longest specimen was nearly two meters long.

Siamese crocodiles are a critically endangered species native to Southeast Asia. Their skin is used as a raw material for luxury leather products on the international market. In China, it is illegal to raise them without a license or to trade and traffic them.