Due to the impact of Typhoon Gaemi No. 3, China's Yangtze River is experiencing its third flood of 2024, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing information from China's Ministry of Water Resources.
The latest flood on the Yangtze River was recorded when the water level at the Lianhuatang hydrological station, one of the main water level observation points in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, reached the warning level of 32.5 meters at 18:50 on the evening of July 29.
China's Ministry of Water Resources has deployed flood relief operations, including responding to dike breaches in Hunan Province, central China.
Meanwhile, China's Ministry of Water Resources has activated a level 3 emergency response to flooding in Hunan Province and a level 4 emergency response to flooding in Jiangsu, Anhui, and Jiangxi provinces, while dispatching working groups and experts to Hunan to guide flood prevention efforts.
China's Ministry of Water Resources urged enhanced monitoring and early warning of floods, increased patrols of dikes and reservoirs, prevention of flooding on medium and small rivers, and flash floods.
China has a four-tier emergency response system to control floods, with level 1 being the most severe.
SCMP reported on July 29 that heavy rain in Hunan Province, central China, led to three dike breaches within less than 20 hours, forcing thousands of people to evacuate as water levels reached record highs.
The Hunan Provincial Emergency Command Center said the latest dike breach occurred on the afternoon of July 29 on the Yuanjiang River in Xiangtan City, Hunan Province, after Typhoon Gaemi No. 3. Earlier, on the evening of July 28, floods caused two other dike breaches also on the Yuanjiang River - a tributary of the Xiangjiang River - forcing more than 4,000 people to leave their homes.
"Due to the high river water levels, the water has almost submerged the trunks of trees on both sides of the river as well as the first floors of many houses," China's state television CCTV reported on July 29.
Much of China has been struggling with heavy rain and flooding in recent weeks, with 15 provinces currently on emergency alert.
The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) has called on authorities to closely monitor the heavy rain and weather conditions after Typhoon Gaemi No. 3 swept through the country.
It is forecasted that the flood and heavy rain season in China will continue until August, and typhoon activity is expected to increase, Chinese authorities noted.
Authorities have also warned about the potential impact of heavy rain on grain production in northeastern China, one of the country's main grain-producing regions.
