Chongqing had evacuated over 250,000 people and relocated about 130,000 people by late Thursday, according to Xinhua News Agency. (Xinhua/Liu Chan), Photo taken on Aug. 18, 2020 shows a market partially submerged by flooding water at the Chuqimen section of the Yangtze River in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. Affected by the heavy rainfall in the Sichuan Basin, rivers in Chongqing had greatly exceeded the flood-stage level. The heavy rains this year have revived a debate over the Three Gorges Dam, a massive project begun in 1994 that forced the relocation of more than a million people, inundated entire communities and badly damaged the surrounding environment. In Chongqing, the floods have affected at least 210,000 people across 26 counties and subdistricts, and raised fears of landslides. Water levels rose to one meter and gradually went down after about an hour. Chongqing Municipality, located along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, was hit by severe flooding on Tuesday. The floods have threatened some of the country’s most famous landmarks. On Friday, officials announced that the flow into the Three Gorges dam had eased somewhat, though they remained on alert. CUI LI/FOR CHINA DAILY Chongqing is facing possibly its largest deluge since 1981 as its flood … So far, no casualties have been reported in Qijiang District, according to Hu. Security guards kept watch by an alley in Chongqing that had been blocked off because of floods. Thousands of residents in Chongqing in China’s southwest have been evacuated and riverside shops and scenic spots closed, as the megacity braces for its biggest flood in … Mr. Li visited Chongqing, where the Yangtze spilled over its banks for the fifth time this year and, on Thursday afternoon, breached the historical high reached in 1981. Authorities said at least 11 people died and 21,500 residents were evacuated due to the new round of heavy rains and flooding in the area. Three landslides in Dunhao town in a mountainous part of Chongqing left six dead, the city's Emergency Management Bureau said. Landslides killed six people in one town in Chongqing. Some reports in state media have gone further, claiming that the dam had almost certainly prevented even worse flooding in major cities downstream, including Wuhan, where the Covid-19 pandemic began. Chongqing is at the top of the … Rainfall in the town of Dunhao totaled 39 centimeters (15 inches), the bureau said. Three floodgates of the Three Gorges Dam that spans the Yangtze were opened as the water level behind the massive structure rose more than 15m above flood level, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Three landslides in Dunhao town in a mountainous part of Chongqing left six dead, the city’s Emergency Management Bureau said. Premier Li Keqiang visited the flood-stricken city this week. “The Chinese nation has fought natural disasters for thousands of years, gaining precious experience,” the country’s leader, Xi Jinping, declared on Tuesday after a visit to Anhui, another flooded province downstream from the Three Gorges Dam. Nursing-home workers are refusing vaccines. Unusually heavy rains have wreaked havoc in central and southwestern China, leaving hundreds dead and disrupting the economy’s post-pandemic recovery. The southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing on Wednesday. The Party and the government will assist everyone in this hard time, the premier told locals, according to official news release. This year’s flooding has unfolded not 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 steadily mounted even as official reports have focused on the government’s relief efforts. Since July 14, heavy rain has fallen in Chongqing, which caused floods and landslides in parts of Chongqing. “Humanity is insignificant in the face of disaster.”, After Covid, China’s Leaders Face New Challenges From Flooding. Aerial photo taken on Aug. 18, 2020 shows the flooding water in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. In Chongqing, the flooding consumed Ciqikou, an ancient riverside trading port near where the Jialing River merges with the Yangtze. In Chongqing, the flooding consumed Ciqikou, an ancient riverside trading port near where the Jialing River merges with the Yangtze. Heavy rains are normal in southern China during the summer, but this year’s fell harder and longer than usual, inundating crops and entire communities over the last two months. (PHOTO / XINHUA) The 71m-tall statue, a Unesco heritage … Vast swathes of China have been inundated by flooding along the Yangtze The dam was holding back about 45% of the water, it said. The bodies had been found by Friday evening after more than 200 people were dispatched for a search and rescue operation. People in Shizhu County woke up to heavy downpours and floods on Sunday. Nearly 700 smaller rivers and tributaries have also flooded, straining older dams and levees. Floodwaters submerge the Hongyadong tourist area in Chongqing on Wednesday. The Tuojiang River in Sichuan Province, swollen by heavy rains. China’s other great waterway, the Yellow River, has also experienced more flooding. Employers are offering incentives. If the floods had come at night, the consequences would have been unimaginable. The Ministry of Water Resources said in a statement that in Shaanxi Province on Friday, the river had reached the highest level since 1997. ... state news … Chongqing has been lashed by intense rains since July 1, affecting 28 of its 38 counties, according to a July 2 report by state-run People’s Daily. “I believe that the Chinese public will question Beijing from this year’s continuous natural and man-made disasters, and even question China’s governance model and its effectiveness,” said Wu Qiang, an independent political analyst in Beijing. Photographs showed brown water submerging vast stretches of the city’s waterfront, including Hongyadong, an 11-story structure that is a popular tourist destination. READ MORE: Chongqing flooding considered among worst city has ever seen . Public appearances in flood-stricken areas by Mr. Xi and China’s premier, Li Keqiang, underscored the severity of the crisis, which has delivered another blow to an economy still struggling to rebound from the pandemic. Rainfall in the town of Dunhao totaled 39 centimeters (15 inches), the bureau said. On July 16, the Chongqing Water Conservancy Bureau launched a third-level flood defense emergency response, reminding the relevant departments of districts and counties in Chongqing to implement protection and control effectively. The flooding in Chongqing was sparked by heavy rain that swelled the Yangtze River and several of its tributaries. 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On Thursday, Chinese authorities said the flooding, which raised water levels at the Three Gorges Dam and inundated cities like Chongqing in August, was the most serious disaster since 1998. At 2 in the afternoon of August 18, the Flood-Level II emergency response in Chongqing was upgraded to Level I. A Level I emergency response was issued on Tuesday for flood control. Having brought the coronavirus pandemic largely under control, China’s leaders are now struggling with a surge of crippling floods that have killed hundreds of people and displaced millions across the central and southwestern parts of the country. The structure has been closed since Tuesday and workers have been clearing out the mud that reached its lower levels. Local officials quickly cordoned off the affected regions. The megacity, which sits southeast of … Chongqing saw the biggest flood of this year as the water level at the Cuntan station reached 191.55 meters, 0.14 meters higher than the record in 1981, at around 8 am Thursday. China is seeing unusually high rainfall this year during the annual flooding season. “It’s too scary how the water rose,” the manager of a restaurant there, who would only give her surname, Zhang, said by telephone on Friday. Xi Jinping, China’s leader, called the disaster relief efforts “a practical test of the leadership and command system of our army.”. This made the municipality activate a top-level response to the floods. Shop now. Houses and shops have been flooded in the city of Chongqing in southwest China, forcing thousands to evacuate. China’s flood defence network put to the test as it braces for more storms ... from Chongqing in the southwest to Shanghai on the east coast – in the coming five days. CHONGQING, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Severe flood battered Chongqing on Wednesday, overflowing some roads and tourist attractions and disrupting city traffic. A severe flood battered Chongqing on Wednesday, overflowing some roads and tourist attractions and disrupting city traffic. Community workers and volunteers delivered food and supplies to people in the Sichuan Province city of Neijiang this week. Although officials said the dam was in no danger, the water level has approached maximum capacity. The bodies had been found by Friday evening after more than 200 people were dispatched for a search and rescue operation. In Sichuan, floodwaters rose to the base of the Leshan Giant Buddha, a 1,200-year-old sculpture carved out of the mountainside that is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was the first time they initiated a Flood-Level I emergency response since records. Three landslides in Dunhao town in a mountainous part of Chongqing left six dead, the city’s Emergency Management Bureau said. In Chongqing, the city authorities said last month that flooding along the local section of the Qijiang River, upstream from the Yangtze, was the worst since monitoring began in 1940. At a briefing in Beijing last week, Zhou Xuewen, the secretary general of China’s flood control headquarters, said that at least 63 million people had been affected and 54,000 homes destroyed. A Level I emergency response was issued on Tuesday for flood control. For Flint, Mich., the public health traumas never seem to stop. U.S. unemployment claims jump sharply, showing the pandemic’s continuing economic toll. Chongqing police have issued an emergency warning that anyone found to have posted news of the flooding online in an "irresponsible" manner will be immediately detained, RFA has learned. More than … Xinhua reported that the waters reached the third stories of some buildings on the steep riverbank. A giant statue of Buddha in China has had its toes dampened by floodwater for the first time since the 1940s. Mr. Xi called China’s disaster relief efforts “a practical test of the leadership and command system of our army.” He met with relatives of three people who died while fighting floods, and on Wednesday he addressed officers of the People’s Liberation Army and the People’s Armed Police, which have been involved in the relief work. “We should continue to fight.”. Rescuers evacuate flood-stranded civilians in Nan'an district of Southwest China's Chongqing municipality, Aug 20, 2020. The flow of water into the dam’s reservoir reached 75 million liters a second, breaking a record of 61 million liters set just last month, according to a statement from the Ministry of Water Resources. Connect with friends faster than ever with the new Facebook app. Another in the same region left five people missing. In Sichuan, water lapped at the toes of the Leshan Giant Buddha — a towering 8th-century statue carved into a mountainside — for the first time since at least 1949, a government scenic management committee said. (Xinhua/Liu Chan), Aerial photo taken on Aug. 18, 2020 shows the flooded area in Ciqikou ancient town of Shapingba District, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. One resident of Chongqing, in a video of the flooding there that circulated on a popular social media platform, said: “The losses have been heavy for many businesses, fighting the pandemic in the first half of the year and flooding in the second half.”. Flooding on the Yangtze River peaked again this week, in Sichuan Province and the sprawling metropolis of Chongqing, while the Three Gorges Dam, 280 miles downstream, reached its highest level since it began holding water in 2003. 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