Society

Struggle to contain fresh flooding

By Wang Qian (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-27 07:02

BEIJING - Due to fresh torrential downpours, the Three Gorges Dam is expected to endure its second flood peak on Wednesday morning, according to local authorities.

Workers on Monday scoop up trash floating on a section of the upper reaches of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, ahead of the second flood peak anticipated in the region. [China Daily]?

The latest statistics from the State's Office of Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters indicate floods in China this year left 823 people dead and 437 missing as of Monday morning, with direct economic losses of 154 billion yuan ($22.6 billion).

The flood peak at the Three Gorges, though smaller than the prior overflow, will reach some 56,000 cubic meters per second at about 8 am on Wednesday, the China Three Gorges Corporation said on Monday.

Related readings:  C. China braces for more floods?of Yangtze River  Wen: Prepare for more serious floods, disasters  111 killed, 167 missing as floods hit NW China province  China Combats Floods

On Sunday evening, the Yangtze River Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters increased the water discharge volume from 34,000 to 40,000 cubic meters per second to lower the water level in the dam in anticipation of the coming flood.

Consequently, by 1 pm on Monday, the water level of the dam fell to 156.79 meters, 2.07 meters lower than its highest level, according to the latest data from the China Three Gorges Corporation.

Between Monday and Thursday, a new round of downpours are expected to hit parts of South China, with a maximum rainfall of 150 mm, the China Meteorological Administration forecasted on Monday.

Water flow rates through the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in Central China's Hubei province swelled on Monday, as already drenched riverside towns prepared for even more flooding.

Meanwhile, the water flow into the Danjiangkou Reservoir from the Hanjiang River, a tributary of the Yangtze River, in the northern part of Hubei province, peaked at a rate of 34,100 cubic meters per second on Sunday, the highest in almost three decades, according to local disaster relief officials.

The reservoir's water levels are expected to surge to at least 155 meters on Tuesday, some six meters above the reservoir's danger level.

Rescue officials reported that by Monday in Shaanxi an 80 meter breach in the banks of the Luofu River, a tributary of the Weihe River, had been successfully sealed after being triggered by heavy rainfall on Saturday.

While a total of 6,404 people from 1,587 households in Huayin were evacuated before the flood on early Saturday, no casualties were reported.

Floods and other rain-triggered disasters in Shaanxi disrupted nearly all trains to and from the Lhasa region of Tibet, which pass through Shaanxi, over the past two weeks, Wang Doje, a Lhasa Railway Station official, said on Monday.

In Henan, heavy downpours over the weekend left 37 dead and 19 missing, and forced the famous Longmen Grottos to close on Monday.

Rain has also lashed the mountainous city of Jinggangshan, known as the cradle of the Chinese Communist revolution, in East China's Jiangxi province, flooding the streets with knee-high water on Monday. No casualties were reported.