China's flood has reached the foot of the 1,000-year-old Buddha statue of the Great Buddha in Sichuan province for the first time in decades, showing the severity of the flood in the Yangtze River - the longest river in China - according to Bloomberg.
The flood video at the world's largest stone Buddha statue in China in Sichuan province has been widely shared on the country's social network Weibo with the hashtag related to the floodwaters reaching the foot of the statue, attracting more than 91 million visits.
This is the first time a 70-meter-tall Buddha statue in China has been flooded by the river since 1949, local media quoted the landscape management committee as saying.
China has been hit by severe flooding since June, with more than 63 million people affected and causing economic losses of up to 178 billion yuan ($26 billion), according to information on the website of the country's Ministry of Emergency Management.
The Yangtze River - the longest river in China, has experienced four major floods this year and the fifth, according to a warning from the Zhuang Irrigation Commission on August 16, could be the worst flood.
This flood is very big and has a high peak. The flood control situation is quite serious" - the Truong Giang Irrigation Committee under the Ministry of Water Resources of China announced in the post.
Tu Xuyen province issued the highest emergency alert on August 18 to respond to floods in the context of floods affecting 60,000 people, according to Xinhua.
According to Xinhua News Agency, floods have affected the giant Buddha statue of Lac Son Dai Phat - a world heritage recognized by UNESCO in the suburbs of Lac Son city. Floodwaters have reached the toes of a giant Buddha statue for the first time since00.
Since the night of August 17, local police and the staff of the scenic area have placed sandbags on the pedestal at the foot of the Buddha statue to build a structure like a dam to protect the statue. However, when the water level on the local rivers rose rapidly, floodwaters reached the toes of the Buddha statue at 10am on August 18.
China's state news agency said that there is a long-standing saying in Lac Son that the city would be completely flooded if the floodwaters reached the foot of the Great Buddha.
Lac Son has activated the highest level of flood response.
Lac Son Dai Phat is carved into a cliff in Lac Son mountain and looks out at the confluence of three rivers - Thanh Y, Man Giang and Dai Do. Thanh Y is the largest branch of the Dai Do River while the Dai Do and Man Giang rivers are both branches of the Duong Tu River. The giant Buddha statue in China was built over 90 years, starting in 713 under the Tang Dynasty.
