The Ministry of Civil Affairs has urged local authorities to step up their flood prevention efforts, especially to secure the safety of elderly people in nursing homes.

The ministry held a teleconference on Monday afternoon, urging the civil affairs bureaus at all levels to improve their ability to handle flood emergencies by identifying houses of the elderly facing possible dangers amid floods and taking corresponding emergency preparedness measures. The local authorities should take decisive steps to transfer and relocate elderly people when facing severe floods, the ministry said in an online release on Tuesday.

Residences of the elderly should get priority in rescue during floods and should be equipped with flood prevention supplies. The local authorities are required to better the on-call system of elderly houses and make sure a 24-hour duty system is in service in emergencies.

The ministry has also urged local authorities to channel more resources and investment to renovate elderly nursing houses in the countryside, which have weaker facilities.

In late July, 31 elderly people living at a senior care center in Miyun district on Beijing's outskirts were killed in a flood after the city was hit by torrential rains.