After largely controlling the Covid-19 pandemic, China’s leaders are now grappling with a devastating flood in the central and southwestern regions of the country, killing hundreds and millions more.
Floods on the Yangtze River peaked again last week in Sichuan province and Chongqing city, while the water in the Three Gorges Dam reservoir, about 450 km downstream, has nearly reached its maximum threshold.
Chongqing city, southwest China, August 19.
This year’s floods in China are not a single natural disaster, with huge property damage, but consist of a series of smaller floods taking place widely.
`The Chinese nation has fought natural disasters for thousands of years, gaining a lot of valuable experience,` President Xi Jinping announced earlier this week after a visit to Anhui, another province also affected by floods.
Mr. Xi called the disaster relief efforts a `real test for the Chinese military’s leadership and command system.`
The appearance of President Xi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in areas devastated by floods shows the severity of the crisis in the context of China still seeking to recover its economy after the pandemic.
Prime Minister Li visited Chongqing, where the Yangtze River overflowed its banks for the fifth time this year and on August 20, water levels broke a record high set in 1981. Leaders reassured
Chongqing suffered its biggest flood since 1981
Chongqing seen from above on August 19.
`The loss is too heavy for business people, coping with the epidemic in the first half of the year and fighting floods in the second half of the year,` a resident of Chongqing said in a viral video of the floods.
Before this week, floods had caused economic losses of at least $26 billion to China.
In Sichuan on August 21, landslides caused by heavy rains killed at least 6 people in a village near Nha An city.
Heavy rain is a familiar phenomenon in southern China in the summer, but this year, it rained more and lasted longer than usual, causing flooding of crops and submerging residential communities for the past two months.
It seems to be no coincidence that President Xi recently launched a campaign to combat food waste with the current serious flood situation.
Heavy rains also aroused debates related to the Three Gorges Dam, a giant project that started construction at the end of 1994 and has been in operation since 2003.
The Dajiang River in Sichuan overflowed its banks due to prolonged heavy rain.
Water flow into the dam’s reservoir has reached 75 million liters per minute, breaking last month’s record of 61 million liters per minute, according to a report from China’s Ministry of Water Resources.
Since the floods began in June, government officials have repeatedly reassured that the Three Gorges Dam will endure.
On August 20, authorities announced that the flow into the Three Gorges Dam had decreased somewhat although it was still at an alarming level.
Another major Chinese river, the Yellow River, is also facing flooding.
Flooding also threatens some of China’s most famous landmarks.
In Chongqing, floods submerged Ciqikou, an ancient riverside trading port near where the Jialing River joins the Yangtze River.
Photos online show brown water engulfing large stretches of riverside land, including Hong Nhai Dong, an 11-story structure that is a popular tourist destination.
`The rising water is scary,` said the manager of a restaurant in Hong Nhai Dong.
Security personnel guard an alley that has been blocked because of flooding in Chongqing.
Vu Hoang (According to New York Times, Xinhua, China Daily)