Flooding tests China’s giant dam

Weeks of torrential rains have brought some of the
worst flooding seen in China for a decade [Reuters]


Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/07/201072435320990152.html

China's most severe floods in a decade are threatening to get worse as the landmark Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze river is close to overflowing, with its reservoir almost full.

The water level reached 158 metres on Saturday morning, just 17 metres from the reservoir's maximum capacity, flood control headquarters in the central province of Hubei told The Associated Press.

Two typhoons - Conson and Chantu - and weeks of heavy rain have caused widespread flooding across several of China's southern provinces, affecting 110 million people.

Weather conditions are likely to worsen further with China's national weather centre issuing a warning on Saturday of more torrential rains for the region.

The floods have left 273 dead and 218 missing since July 1, Al Jazeera's Melissa Chan reporting from Hunan province, said. The direct economic losses are estimated to be around $20bn, she said.

More than eight million people have been forced to leave their homes since the floods began.

Maximum capacity


Huge amounts of water thundered out of Three Gorges' massive spill-gates on Friday as authorities in Jiangxi said the eastern province downstream was at a "critical juncture" in flood control.

The provincial government ordered authorities to redouble flood prevention work along dozens of lakes and rivers already swollen by weeks of heavy rains.

"Over the next 20 to 30 days, the high water level of the Yangtze River's Jiujiang section and Poyang Lake will continue. The flood situation is very grim," the provincial government said in a statement.

With a wall running over two kilometres wide and 185 metres tall, Three Gorges was built at a cost of $27bn.

The reservoir behind the dam holds around 39 trillion litres of water, but it is now reaching its limit.

Already authorities have been forced the close the massive shipping locks built into the dam.

Zhao Yunfa, the deputy director of the China Three Gorges Corporation's dispatch centre, said this week that the dam's capacity can only withstand floods that reach up to 83,700 cubic metres per second - only about 18 per cent more than the dam's record water flow on Tuesday, the China Daily newspaper reported.

"The dam's flood control capacity is not unlimited," the newspaper quoted Zhao as saying.


Floods 'super-alert'


The Hubei provincial government said several flood-hit areas had been put on "super-alert" in anticipation of increased water flow and the large Danjiangkou reservoir had reached its flood-control maximum.

Chen Lei, the minister of water resources, urged those responsible to continue to inspect and protect dams and reservoirs as well as prepare for heavy rainfalls.

Work teams have been dispatched to areas including Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu to co-ordinate flood-fighting efforts, Xinhua said.

Elsewhere in southern China, Guangdong province was hit by the full force of Typhoon Chanthu, the second such storm to hit the country in less than a week.

Chanthu made landfall late on Thursday with winds of up to 126 kilometres per hour sending debris flying through the air and killing at least two people.

State television broadcast images of large waves crashing onto the Guangdong shore and said electricity, telecommunications and water services were cut in some areas.


On Friday, Chanthu was downgraded to a tropical storm as it headed towards the city of Nanning, although it is still causing heavy rains.

Liu Ning, the vice-minister of water resources, warned of more misery to come as the typhoon season gets into gear, saying six to eight major typhoons were expected in the coming months.