At least 14 people died in southern China on Saturday due to seasonal rains and flooding.
Three gates to the Three Gorges Dam spanning the Yangtze River were opened when the water level behind the massive dam rose more than 50 feet above the flood level, the state news agency Xinhua reported.
The dam was holding about 45 percent of the water, Xinhua said, citing China Three Gorges Corp.
Upstream, 11 people had died in Chongqing as of Saturday morning, China National Emergency Broadcasting said in an online report, citing the municipal emergency agency. More than 20,000 people were evacuated and 1,031 houses destroyed.
Three landslides in the city of Dunhao in a mountainous part of Chongqing left six dead, the city’s Office of Emergency Management said. The bodies were found Friday night after more than 200 people were sent for a search and rescue operation. Rain in the city of Dunhao totaled 15 inches, the office said.
Three more people died in neighboring Hubei province, the emergency management department said in a social media post.
The state television network CCTV showed people cleaning streets and shops still wet and muddy in the city of Enshi after the severe floods on Friday. Rescue teams used inflatable rafts to rescue more than 1,900 people trapped in their homes and other buildings.
In this photo released by the China Xinhua News Agency, water flows from the locks at the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River near Yichang in central Hubei province on Friday July 17, 2020. Flooded With heavier rains, China’s mighty Yangtze River is crest again, raising fears of further destruction as seasonal floods that have already left more than a hundred people dead or missing have grown since last month. (Zheng Jiayu / Xinhua via AP)
Downstream, firefighters and others finished completing a 620-foot break on a levee at Lake Poyang, China’s largest freshwater lake, Xinhua said.
The dam gave way nine days ago, flooding 15 villages and agricultural fields in Jiangxi province, the news agency said. More than 14,000 people were evacuated.
Incoming waters were expected to peak Saturday behind the Three Gorges Dam, but more water is forecast to arrive around Tuesday, Xinhua said. The hydroelectric dam is used to mitigate catastrophic floods.
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Seasonal flooding strikes large parts of China annually, especially in its central and southern regions, but rainfall has been unusually high this year.
About 1.8 million people have been evacuated and the direct losses attributed to the floods are estimated at more than $ 7 billion, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.
Major cities have been saved so far, but concern has grown over Wuhan and other downstream metropolises that host tens of millions of people.
China’s worst floods in recent years were in 1998, when more than 2,000 people died and nearly 3 million homes were destroyed, mainly along the Yangtze.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
