Extreme levels of flood danger were announced in China’s Three Gorges Dam, which recorded the largest flood of water in its history, prompting officials to reassure the public that it would not be damaged.
Inflows into the world’s largest hydroelectric dam reach 75m liters of water per second, according to state media. By Thursday morning, 11 outlets of the dam were open to discharge 49.2m liters of water per second, the largest release since construction.
After two months of severe flooding across central and southwestern China, officials have promised that the dam can withstand the currents.
A separation from the dam, a controversial and unusual feat of technology along the Yangtze River, would be embarrassing for China, which took 12 years to build the mega-project, relocate millions and submerge land sweats.
The Three Gorges dam, which can handle inflows of about 98.8m liters per second, is already approaching its capacity. Officials expect water levels in the reservoir, whose dam was built to withstand a 175-meter water level, to reach 165.5 meters on Saturday. The flood is predicted to last about five days.
This week, the Ministry of Water Resources said that the standard of construction meant 111 large reservoirs downstream of the dam could help reduce pressure on the structure. “The standard for construction of the dam is high and it can withstand major flooding,” it said.
Above the dam, officials in the city of Chongqing, Sichuan province, evacuated nearly 300,000 residents before the flood. On Thursday, levels along the Yangtze near Chongqing reached unprecedented heights since 1981, when the country experienced its worst floods in a century, leaving 1.5 million homeless.
In Chongqing, roads, bridges, parks and a highway in the commercial district were flooded, affecting 260,000 people and damaging at least 20,000 businesses, according to officials.
Images showed flooding underpassed three-meter-high sidewalks and buildings several stories high. Firefighters made boats for transporting rescued residents.
In Sichuan, workers and volunteers crawled to protect a 1,200-year-old cultural relic, the Leshan Giant Buddha, as floodwaters reached the statue’s toes for the first time since 1949.
Hunan, Henan and Hubei provinces, where the Two Gorges Dam is located, were also protected from heavy rain on Thursday.
The flood threatens to derail the country’s fragile recovery from the Covid-19 crisis. The outbreak has caused an estimated 179 billion yuan in losses and displaced more than 4 million people, according to officials.
The floods have also raised concerns about food safety. A report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said the supply hole would probably be around 130m tonnes by the end of 2025.
The Chinese leader toured Anhui province this week, another area that was hit hard where floods were somewhat lighter. Xi Jinping stood on top of a flood and visited soldiers, declaring: ‘I have always worried about the people in flooded areas. The Chinese nation has fought natural disasters for thousands of years … We will continue to fight. ”
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