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Yangtze city at center of China's latest flood battle
Source: Xinhua |
July 28, 2010, Wednesday
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Online Edition
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MORE than 9,000 soldiers and emergency workers were mobilized to lay sandbags on dikes and to check for leaks in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, as the city today braced for flood waters from two swollen rivers.
According to the Yangtze Water Resources Commission, flood peaks of the mainstream of the Yangtze River and the Hanjiang River, the Yangtze's largest tributary, are expected to converge in Wuhan.
Wuhan has a population of about 9.1 million and is a major transport and economic hub in central China.
The level of Hanjiang River is expected to rise to 30.5 meters, the highest in two decades, when the flood peak passes Wuhan, while the level of the mainstream of Yangtze is forecast to pass the danger line to 27.3 meters tomorrow.
In nearby Xiantao City, workers were on standby today to open flood gates to divert water from the swollen Hanjiang River to a walled low-lying area covering 450 square kilometers.
The low-lying area, stretching from Xiantao to southeast parts of Wuhan, comprises farmland and fish ponds. It is designed as an emergency reservoir during serious floods.
About 5,000 residents in Xiantao and another 25,000 in southeast Wuhan were evacuated overnight.
A flood peak is expected to arrive at Xiantao late Wednesday, sooner than previous estimates.
If the water were not diverted, dikes guarding two of the three major districts in Wuhan and nearby Hanchuan City might be breached, local water resources officials said.
The Flood Control Headquarters of Wuhan has raised the alert level to the second highest level, triggering the mobilization of emergency workers and the military. The highest level signals the closures of schools and factories and the mobilization of millions of the city's adult residents to join the flood prevention efforts.
But officials were confident that the worst scenario could be avoided as flood control systems, including the Three Gorges Dam, were working well and no major rains are forecast in the near future.
In Yichang City, the Three Gorges Dam experienced the highest water flow of the year -- about 56,000 cubic meters per second.
The dam withstood the flow with a discharge rate of 40,000 cubic meters per second, accumulating 16,000 cubic meters of water per second in the reservoir.
The water level in the reservoir had risen to 158 meters at 8am today, about 17 meters below its maximum of 175 meters.
According to the Yangtze Water Resources Commission, flood peaks of the mainstream of the Yangtze River and the Hanjiang River, the Yangtze's largest tributary, are expected to converge in Wuhan.
Wuhan has a population of about 9.1 million and is a major transport and economic hub in central China.
The level of Hanjiang River is expected to rise to 30.5 meters, the highest in two decades, when the flood peak passes Wuhan, while the level of the mainstream of Yangtze is forecast to pass the danger line to 27.3 meters tomorrow.
In nearby Xiantao City, workers were on standby today to open flood gates to divert water from the swollen Hanjiang River to a walled low-lying area covering 450 square kilometers.
The low-lying area, stretching from Xiantao to southeast parts of Wuhan, comprises farmland and fish ponds. It is designed as an emergency reservoir during serious floods.
About 5,000 residents in Xiantao and another 25,000 in southeast Wuhan were evacuated overnight.
A flood peak is expected to arrive at Xiantao late Wednesday, sooner than previous estimates.
If the water were not diverted, dikes guarding two of the three major districts in Wuhan and nearby Hanchuan City might be breached, local water resources officials said.
The Flood Control Headquarters of Wuhan has raised the alert level to the second highest level, triggering the mobilization of emergency workers and the military. The highest level signals the closures of schools and factories and the mobilization of millions of the city's adult residents to join the flood prevention efforts.
But officials were confident that the worst scenario could be avoided as flood control systems, including the Three Gorges Dam, were working well and no major rains are forecast in the near future.
In Yichang City, the Three Gorges Dam experienced the highest water flow of the year -- about 56,000 cubic meters per second.
The dam withstood the flow with a discharge rate of 40,000 cubic meters per second, accumulating 16,000 cubic meters of water per second in the reservoir.
The water level in the reservoir had risen to 158 meters at 8am today, about 17 meters below its maximum of 175 meters.
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