Storms cause flooding, landslides along Yangtze River in China
Some rivers on mainland have highest water levels in nearly 20 years, according to state TV
Eight provinces in China have been battered by heavy downpours, causing flooding, landslides and mudflows and leaving water levels on some branches of the Yangtze River at dangerously high levels.
Regions around the middle and lower sections of the Yangtze have continued to be struck by the latest round of torrential rains, with storms hitting provinces including Jiangxi, Hubei and Anhui, China National Radio reported.
Many major rivers on the mainland have reached their highest water levels since 1998, the state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing flood control and drought relief authorities.
The authorities are rushing to discharge water from the Three Georges Reservoir and other upstream reservoirs on the Yangtze to prepare for the arrival of its main flood season, which started this month.
Eleven landslides were reported in the Wanli district of the city by Thursday lunchtime and local police had to evacuate 1,162 people from the area after receiving 22 calls for help from people trapped by floodwater.
Upstream in Chongqing, a yellow alert for flood was issued on Thursday after several roads were destroyed by the rush of water.
A primary school in a low-lying area in a nearby county was flooded by water from a barrier lake formed by mountain torrents.
Farmland in Jianshi county in Hubei province was flooded after the heaviest rainstorm in 36 years, causing landslides, debris flows and power outages. About 60,000 people were affected, according to preliminary estimates.
The Yangtze flood control and drought relief authorities warned at the end of March that this year’s particularly strong El Nino, a cyclical warming of ocean currents that has weather effects around the globe, was likely to cause serious flooding in the middle and lower sections of the Yangtze River.
