Heavy upstream flooding into the Yangtze River and its tributaries are causing the huge Three Gorges … [+]
It seems to be part of the times, doesn’t it? A pandemic once in a generation, a flood once in a generation. Parts of China are literally at eye level in the water, in what the Chinese government calls a flood every 100 years. The Three Gorges Dam, built to stop these things, is now in the spotlight.
The Three Gorges Dam is the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world, with an installed capacity of 22,500 megawatts of power generation. The thing is, the power plant is downstream of the Yangtze River from a handful of other dams that exist at a higher elevation than the Three Gorges. And due to flooding and problems at those upstream dams, Three Gorges is buckling under the pressure of massive water flows.
Cities in the country’s central region along the Yangtze River, China’s longest river, have been flooded last week due to heavy monsoon season rains. It was reported to be the worst flood since 1998, and not 100 years ago that some have said in Beijing.
In total, more than 400 Yangtze tributary rivers have overflowed, with nearly 200 people dead and underwater properties.
Average precipitation is around 12% higher than the last monsoon season. The economic damage from the floods is expected to reach 86.2 billion yuan ($ 12 billion), according to some government estimates made on Friday.
On Sunday, the AP reported from Beijing that authorities downed an entire dam to release the rising waters behind it and let it run.
The state-owned CCTV network reported that the dam on the Chuhe River in Anhui province was smashed to pieces with explosives early Sunday morning, after which the water level was expected to drop two feet.
Last week, the Three Gorges Dam opened three floodgates when the water level behind it rose more than 50 feet above the flood zone. Another flood ridge is expected to hit the dam Tuesday, according to the AP article, adding that the Chinese military has been testing the strength of the embankments and reinforcing them with sandbags and rocks.
Over the weekend, firefighters finished completing a 620-foot break at Poyang Lake, China’s largest freshwater lake, which caused flooding in 15 villages, sinking grain crops in Jiangxi province under the Water.
As of Sunday night, the Huaihe River overflowed as heavy rains are forecast in the region for the next three days, according to China’s Ministry of Emergency Management.
From today to Wednesday, heavier rains will increase flood risks for the rivers that connect to the Three Gorges, although it appears that the heaviest rains will end in the middle of the week, saving the world’s largest dam from further stress.
The floods are expected to pose a threat to parts of the Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces this week, while heavy rain in the mountains is likely to affect parts of the Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, according to the AP, although This should not have any impact. in the force of the Three Gorges.
The last thing China needs is for that dam to fail. Wallpapering that would be a bitter pill for Beijing.
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