Thousands evacuated as floods threaten a massive dam and a revered Buddha in China

Beijing – Heavy rainfall has flooded China’s Yangtze River, threatened UNESCO World Heritage sites and forced officials to trust civilians that the world’s largest hydroelectric dam is not intended to break.

De Three Gorges Dam and the reservoir it holds back saw the highest flood levels since it was completed in 2003, with an inflow that peaked Thursday at nearly 99,000 cubic yards of water per second for nine hours. The upper reaches of the Yangtze have been swollen by what the national Ministry of Water Resources said was the worst flooding since 1981.

Some 100,000 people in Sichuan, along the banks of the Upper Yangtze, were evacuated this week as the province activated its response to the highest level of flooding for the first time on record.

While the threat to the 1.4-mile-long dam was serious, the Three Gorges Corp. said the reservoir had prepared for the inundation by coordinating with other dams downstream to carry the current.

It’s the monsoon season in much of Asia, but the total of precipitation this year has broken records across China. However, experts sound confident about Three’s Gorges Dam’s ability to handle the deluge.

Zhang Boting, deputy secretary general of the China Society for Hydropower Engineering, said that this year’s rainfall could carry the amount in 1998, when China was hammered by deadly floods, but these days, “we are better off to control it with the Three Gorges Project. “

“Without it, the flood situation would be worse this year than in 1998,” he told CBS News in a telephone interview. “The Three Gorges Dam has done a great job. We need to understand that the complete taming of the stream of every river, including the Yangtze River, is just beyond the realm of technology.”

Zhang blames the unfinished reservoir projects river for the severe flooding in Sichuan and the area around Chongqing city.

“It would be ideal if these projects could be completed soon and together with them, Three Gorges Dam would work much better to control the floods,” he said, adding that it would probably take at least a decade before that happens.

“It will not get any worse here,” he said.

So far this year, the floods have been blamed for 219 deaths and the evacuation of 4 million people, according to figures released last week by the Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM).

Wash the feet of Buddha

The flood also threatened the Leshan Giant Buddha, a 1,200-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site. The 233-meter-long statue stands on a cliff in Leshan Mountain, overlooking three converging rivers. An old saying goes: “Giant Buddha wants to wash his feet. The city of Leshan can not fall asleep.” In other words, if the water goes over the feet of Buddha, the city of Leshan will be flooded.

The floods hit Buddha’s toes for the first time since 1949 this week, according to the Leshan Buddha Scenic Spot Management Bureau.

However, the Bureau said Thursday that the water fell back under the feet of the statue, but they still need to assess flood damage before it could be reopened to tourists.

The flood also forced the closure of Jiuzhai Valley, another UNESCO World Heritage Site, famous for its beautiful natural landscape of colorful lakes, mature forests, and spectacular waterfalls.

China has allocated 460 million yuan (about $ 66.5 million) to support flood relief and disaster relief in four regions, the government said Wednesday.