After the coronavirus pandemic was largely brought under control, China’s leaders are now struggling with an escalation of crippling floods that have killed hundreds of people and displaced millions across the central and southwestern parts of the country.
The Yangtze River flooding peaked again this week, in Sichuan Province and the sprawling metropolis of Chongqing, while the Three Gorges Dam, 280 kilometers downstream, reached its highest level since it began flooding in 2003.
This year’s flood did not occur as a single natural disaster, with an enormous loss of life and property, but rather as a slow, merciless series of smaller ones, whose combined toll has gradually built up, even as official reports have focused on the relief effort. the government.
“The Chinese nation has been fighting natural disasters for thousands of years and gaining valuable experience,” the country’s leader, Xi Jinping, said on Tuesday after a visit to Anhui, another flooded province downstream of the Three Gorges Dam. “We have to keep fighting.”
Mr. Xi called the efforts of China’s disaster relief “a practical test of our army’s leadership and command system.” He met with relatives of three people who died in fighting the floods, and on Wednesday he set up officers from the People’s Liberation Army and the People’s Armed Police, who have been involved in the relief effort.
Public appearances in flooded areas by Mr Xi and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang underscored the seriousness of the crisis, which has dealt another blow to an economy still struggling to recover from the crisis. pandemic.
Mr. Li visited Chongqing, where the Yangtze swept across its banks for the fifth time this year and reached historic highs on Thursday afternoon in 1981. Leaders have tried to convince people that the government did everything it could, but some may doubt.
“I believe the Chinese public will question Beijing about this year’s persistent natural disasters and man-made disasters, and even China’s governance model and its effectiveness,” said Wu Qiang, an independent political analyst in Beijing.
One Chongqing resident, in a video of the flood there circulating on a popular social media platform, said: “The losses have been heavy for many companies, which fought the pandemic in the first half of the year and flooded in the second half. “
The floods had already caused at least $ 26 billion in economic losses this week. At a briefing in Beijing last week, Zhou Xuewen, the secretary general of China’s flood headquarters, said at least 63 million people had been affected and 54,000 homes destroyed. At least 219 people have died or disappeared, he said.
In Sichuan on Friday, a landslide caused by heavy rains killed at least six other people in a village near Ya’an. Another in the same region left five people missing.
Heavy rains are normal in southern China during the summer, but this year has fallen harder and longer than usual, and has affected crops and entire communities in the last two months. Perhaps not coincidentally, Mr Xi announced a campaign for food waste against the backdrop of the flood, although officials have insisted there is no impending food crisis.
The heavy rains this year have sparked a debate over the Three Gorges Dam, a massive project launched in 1994 that forced the relocation of more than a million people, exaggerated entire communities and severely damaged the surrounding environment.
The flow of water in the dam’s reservoir reached 75 million liters per second, breaking a record 61 million liters just set last month, according to a statement from the Ministry of Water Resources. Although officials said the dam was not in danger, the water level approached maximum capacity.
Since the floods began in June, officials have repeatedly offered assurances that the dam could withstand what was once called flooding. Some reports in state media have gone further, claiming that the dam had almost certainly prevented an even worse flooding in major cities downstream, including Wuhan, where the Covid-19 pandemic began.
On Friday, officials announced that the stream in the Three Gorges Dam had demanded something, although they remained on the alert. “The pressure of flood control on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River has diminished,” Xinhua News Agency reported.
The coronavirus breaks out>
Frequently Asked Questions
Updated August 17, 2020
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Why does standing six feet apart help others?
- The coronavirus spreads primarily by drips from your mouth and nose, especially when you cough or sneeze. The CDC, one of the organizations using this measure, bases its six-foot recommendation on the idea that most large droplets that expel people when they cough or sneeze fall within six feet to the ground. But six feet has never been a magic number that guarantees complete protection. Noses, for example, can launch drops much farther than six feet, according to a recent study. It’s a rule of thumb: you need to be the safest to stand six feet apart, especially when it’s windy. But always wear a mask, even if you think you are far enough apart.
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I have antibodies. Am I immune now?
- At the moment, that probably seems like at least several months. There have been horrific accounts of people suffering from what appears to be a second bolt of Covid-19. But experts say these patients may have a prolonged course of infection, with the virus taking a slow toll weeks to months after initial exposure. People infected with the coronavirus typically produce immune molecules called antibodies, which are protective proteins made in response to an infection. These antibodies may only last two to three months in the body, which may seem worrying, but that is perfectly normal after an acute infection progresses, said Dr. Michael Mina, an immunologist at Harvard University. It could possibly get the coronavirus back up, but it is highly unlikely that it would be possible in a short window of time from initial infection or the second time safe.
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I am a small business owner. Can I get relief?
- The incentive bills introduced in March provide assistance to the millions of American small businesses. Those eligible for support are non-profit companies and organizations with less than 500 workers, including sole proprietorships, independent contractors and freelancers. Some larger companies in some sectors are also eligible. The assistance provided, which is managed by the Small Business Administration, includes the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Damage Disaster Program. But many people have not seen payments yet. Even those who have received help are confused: the rules are draconian, and some are stuck on money they do not know how to use. Many small business owners get less than they expected or heard nothing at all.
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What are my rights if I am worried about returning to work?
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What will school look like in September?
- It is unlikely that many schools will return to a regular schedule this fall, requiring the grinding of online learning, easy childcare and stunted workdays to continue. The two largest public school districts of California – Los Angeles and San Diego – said on July 13 that instruction will be remote only in the fall, citing concerns that growing coronavirus infections in their areas pose too great a risk to students and teachers. Together, the two districts enroll about 825,000 students. They are the largest in the country to date to abandon plans for even a partial physical return to classes when they reopen in August. For other districts, the solution will not be an all-or-nothing approach. Many systems, including the nation’s largest, New York City, are creating hybrid plans that include some days attending classrooms and other days online. There is no national policy yet, so check regularly with your municipal school system to see what is happening in your municipality.
China’s other major waterway, the Yellow River, has also experienced more flooding. The Ministry of Water Resources said in a statement that in Shaanxi province on Friday the river has reached its highest level since 1997. Nearly 700 smaller rivers and tributaries have also been flooded, punishing older dams and rivers.
The floods have threatened some of the country’s most famous landmarks. In Sichuan, floodwaters rose to the base of the Leshan Giant Buddha, a 1,200-year-old sculpture carved from the mountainside, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In Chongqing, the floods consumed Ciqikou, an ancient trading port on riverbanks near where the Jialing River merges with the Yangtze. Xinhua reported that the waters reached the third story of some buildings on the steep riverbank. Photos showed brown water underlying large areas of the city’s waterfront, including Hongyadong, an 11-story structure that is a popular tourist destination.
The structure has been closed since Tuesday and workers have removed the mud reaching its lower levels.
“It’s too scary how the water came up,” said the manager of a restaurant there, who would only give her last name, Zhang, by phone. “Humanity is unimportant in the face of disaster.”
Claire Fu contributed research.
