Three Gorges Dam set to repel flood onslaught
Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily |
July 20, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A CITY in southwest China's Sichuan Province experienced its worst flooding in more than 160 years yesterday when floodwaters formed in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River after days of torrential rain poured through Guan'an.
The water level in a local river rose about 26 meters, nearly 10 meters above the warning level.
Authorities said it was the most severe flood since 1847 in Guan'an, but no casualties had been reported.
The massive flood is heading toward the Three Gorges Dam, which will face its toughest test since major construction was completed in 2006.
The world's largest hydropower complex in central China's Hubei Province is prepared for the onslaught with plans to stem the flow in place.
After several days of continuous rain, the flow on the upper Three Gorges stretch more than doubled from Sunday's 30,000 cubic meters a second and is expected to reach 70,000 cubic meters per second at the dam at 8am today, that's 20,000 cubic meters more than the flow during the 1998 floods that killed 4,150 people.
A spokesman for the China Three Gorges Corporation said yesterday that the strongest flow on the river had been recorded in 1981 at 70,800 cubic meters per second.
The discharge rate at the Three Gorges Dam was raised to 40,000 cubic meters a second at 10am yesterday.
Flooding has been infrequent since 1998 and the flood control work would be intense, according to an emergency notice from the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission's Bureau of Hydrography.
Heavy rains had increased the volume of water on the Yangtze's main stream and branches, especially the upper Jialing and Mintuo rivers, said the notice.
Floodwaters reached 60,000 cubic meters per second yesterday with the Three Gorges Dam and the Danjiangkou Reservoir helping to regulate the massive water flow.
The municipal government in Chongqing has put its emergency flood plan into action. More than 16,000 people will be evacuated in Hechuan, the most at risk district.
Recent flooding has left 26 people dead and 30 missing in Sichuan. More than 8.98 million people had been affected and the economic loss had exceeded 5 billion yuan.
Continuous rains since July 15 have isolated several towns, including Quxian County in Dazhou City, Hanyuan County in Ya'an City and Tongjiang County in Bazhong City.
"Supplies of water, electricity and gas have all been cut. And instant noodles were sold out in the supermarkets," said Zhuang Hailin, a resident in Quxian County.
Buildings along the riverside had been completely flooded and traffic could not move because of the water, Zhuang said.
"If no supplies come, we will soon run out of food," she added.
The Sichuan provincial government has allocated 5 million yuan to disaster relief and supplies were on their way to affected areas, said an official.
In neighboring Shaanxi Province, the death toll reached 19 after eight more people died in Ankang City, said an Ankang government official yesterday.
Another 68 people are still missing while another 44 people have been buried in landslides in the province.
The State Disaster Relief Commission and the Civil Affairs Ministry have launched an emergency flood plan.
Since the beginning of July, torrential rain and severe flooding have left at least 191 people dead and forced the evacuation of more than 1.3 million people in 11 provinces, mostly along the Yangtze River.
The water level in a local river rose about 26 meters, nearly 10 meters above the warning level.
Authorities said it was the most severe flood since 1847 in Guan'an, but no casualties had been reported.
The massive flood is heading toward the Three Gorges Dam, which will face its toughest test since major construction was completed in 2006.
The world's largest hydropower complex in central China's Hubei Province is prepared for the onslaught with plans to stem the flow in place.
After several days of continuous rain, the flow on the upper Three Gorges stretch more than doubled from Sunday's 30,000 cubic meters a second and is expected to reach 70,000 cubic meters per second at the dam at 8am today, that's 20,000 cubic meters more than the flow during the 1998 floods that killed 4,150 people.
A spokesman for the China Three Gorges Corporation said yesterday that the strongest flow on the river had been recorded in 1981 at 70,800 cubic meters per second.
The discharge rate at the Three Gorges Dam was raised to 40,000 cubic meters a second at 10am yesterday.
Flooding has been infrequent since 1998 and the flood control work would be intense, according to an emergency notice from the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission's Bureau of Hydrography.
Heavy rains had increased the volume of water on the Yangtze's main stream and branches, especially the upper Jialing and Mintuo rivers, said the notice.
Floodwaters reached 60,000 cubic meters per second yesterday with the Three Gorges Dam and the Danjiangkou Reservoir helping to regulate the massive water flow.
The municipal government in Chongqing has put its emergency flood plan into action. More than 16,000 people will be evacuated in Hechuan, the most at risk district.
Recent flooding has left 26 people dead and 30 missing in Sichuan. More than 8.98 million people had been affected and the economic loss had exceeded 5 billion yuan.
Continuous rains since July 15 have isolated several towns, including Quxian County in Dazhou City, Hanyuan County in Ya'an City and Tongjiang County in Bazhong City.
"Supplies of water, electricity and gas have all been cut. And instant noodles were sold out in the supermarkets," said Zhuang Hailin, a resident in Quxian County.
Buildings along the riverside had been completely flooded and traffic could not move because of the water, Zhuang said.
"If no supplies come, we will soon run out of food," she added.
The Sichuan provincial government has allocated 5 million yuan to disaster relief and supplies were on their way to affected areas, said an official.
In neighboring Shaanxi Province, the death toll reached 19 after eight more people died in Ankang City, said an Ankang government official yesterday.
Another 68 people are still missing while another 44 people have been buried in landslides in the province.
The State Disaster Relief Commission and the Civil Affairs Ministry have launched an emergency flood plan.
Since the beginning of July, torrential rain and severe flooding have left at least 191 people dead and forced the evacuation of more than 1.3 million people in 11 provinces, mostly along the Yangtze River.
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