China's Ministry of Emergency Management said that heavy rains and floods have forced the evacuation of about 774,000 people in 26 provinces and cities across China, leaving 81 people missing or dead. More than 10,000 homes have also been destroyed. Authorities in the southwestern province of Sichuan said three people were killed and 12 missing after rainstorms that began on the night of June 26 in Mianning County. In one incident, two vehicles fell into a river, killing two people and leaving three others unaccounted for.
Floods caused by heavy rain in Yangshuo County (Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region)
“In the past 20 days since June, the water levels of 197 rivers have exceeded warning levels. Notably, the water levels of 10 rivers are at historic highs,” People’s Daily quoted Liu Zhiyu, deputy director of the Hydrological Forecast Center of the Ministry of Water Resources, as saying. In Chongqing, a red alert was issued on June 22 for the Qi River, the first time the highest flood warning has been issued in the city since the hydrological monitoring system was established 80 years ago, according to People’s Daily.
Houses and roads in Dung An County (Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region) are flooded.
A tea shop owner in Chongqing shared a video on Chinese social media showing the entire floor of his restaurant submerged in water and mud. “When I woke up this morning, I saw that the water had come through the glass door into the house. All the sofas and equipment were washed away. I wanted to jump into the water to salvage some things, but I couldn’t do it,” said the tea shop owner, surnamed Qin.
The floods affected the lives of 14 million people and caused economic losses of about 27.8 billion yuan ($3.8 billion).
This year's severe weather is due to the weakening impact of the El Nino phenomenon that began in November 2019 and is likely to continue affecting southwestern China and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in the coming time, according to the China National Meteorological Center, People's Daily reported.
Damage in the Wulong River area, Yangshuo County
Last week, the Global Times reported that the water level at the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydroelectric project, had reached 147 meters, 2 meters higher than the flood warning. Notably, the volume of water pouring into the Three Gorges Dam was up to 26,500 cubic meters.3/second. The alarming water level has led to many rumors that the Three Gorges Dam is at risk of collapsing and that people living in the surrounding areas need to evacuate. However, Chinese experts have denied the information published by Western media about the risk of the Three Gorges Dam collapsing.
