(Cao Xianxun/Xinhua via AP). Yichang City, Hubei Province, China, July 2. Stay on top of China latest developments on the ground with Al Jazeera’s fact-based news, exclusive video footage, photos and updated maps. Now it is dealing with the worst flooding in more than 20 years across vast swaths, from its southwestern interior to its east coast. China's worst floods in recent years were in 1998, when more than 2,000 people died and nearly 3 million homes were destroyed. China floods: Leshan Giant Buddha statue at risk after torrential rainfall – video In Sichuan, emergency workers and volunteers were scrambling to protect a … (Chinatopix Via AP). Travis Fedschun is a reporter for FoxNews.com. What is the U.S. going to do about China. China's worst floods in recent years were in 1998, when more than 2,000 people died and almost three million homes were destroyed. In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese paramilitary policemen form a line to move sandbags to reinforce a dike along the banks of Poyang Lake in Poyang County in eastern China's Jiangxi Province, July 12. China's ministry of emergency management said this week more than 4,500 people in Jiangxi, Anhui, Hubei and other provinces have been displaced due to floods… State media said last week that since June 29, the outflow of the Three Gorges Dam has been controlled at an average daily rate of 35,000 cubic meters per second, reducing up to 30 percent of the Yangtze's peak discharge. (Zheng Jiayu/Xinhua via AP). Legal Statement. Market data provided by Factset. About 1.8 million people have been evacuated and direct losses attributed to flooding are estimated at more than 49 billion yuan ($7 billion), according to the Ministry of Emergency Management. First China was hit by the novel coronavirus. "Since it was built, it has never played a role in preventing flooding or droughts, like we thought it would back then.". Critics of the project, like Chinese geologist Fan Xiao, have said that Three Gorges and other major dam projects may make flooding worse by altering the flow of sedimentation down the river. The company running the Three Gorges Project said on Saturday that downstream water discharges had been halved since July 6, “effectively reducing the speed and extent of water level rises on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze.”. On Friday, a resident in Wuhan south of the dam posted a video showing that the Yangtze River was well above average, even though it hadn't rained recently, the Nikki Asian Review reported. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Some 1.4 million people had to be resettled as a result of the huge project on the Yangtze River. Water management experts say China's dam-building spree has exacerbated these seasonal floods. Follow him on Twitter @travfed, (Costfoto/Barcroft Media via Getty Images), House crashes into river after heavy flooding in China, touted as the best way to end centuries of flooding, said the number of landslides and other disasters. CGTN claimed that it "effectively relieved the pressure of flood control on the middle and lower reaches of the river. Since early June 2020, heavy rains caused by the regional rainy season led to floods severely affecting large areas of southern China including the Yangtze basin and its tributaries. China’s other great waterway, the Yellow River, has also experienced more flooding. CHINA BRACES FOR MORE STORMS AFTER FLOODS LEAVE 121 DEAD OR MISSING THIS YEAR, “One of the major justifications for the Three Gorges Dam was flood control, but less than 20 years after its completion we have the highest floodwater in recorded history,” David Shankman, a geographer with the University of Alabama who studies Chinese floods, told Reuters. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! The Three Gorges Dam was completed officially in 2006. China suffers from floods every year, but more unpredictable weather has made the task of managing them more challenging, especially with this year’s rainfall among the worst on record. July 12 – China reports 141 dead or missing in floods since June; 28,000 homes have been damaged. Blasting dams and embankments to discharge water was an extreme response employed during China’s worst floods in recent years in 1998, when … … Raw video: House collapses into river in Guangxi region of China after heavy flooding in the area. Rainfall in the town of Dunhao totaled 39 centimeters (15 inches), the bureau said. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. First published on August 20, 2020 / … Engorged with more heavy rains, China's mighty Yangtze River is cresting again, bringing fears of further destruction as seasonal floods that already have left more than a hundred people dead or missing have grown in force since last month. “It can only partially and temporarily intercept the upstream floods, and is powerless to help with floods caused by heavy rainfall in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River,” he said. State broadcaster CCTV showed people cleaning up still wet, muddy streets and shops in the city of Enshi after severe flooding Friday. At least 49 people have died and 14 others are missing since heavy rainfall hit southern China in early June, authorities said today.. Floods, landslides … Severe flooding displaces millions in China and Bangladesh as the monsoon wreaks havoc Rivers are forecast to rise in Bangladesh, with more rain on the way A man walks through flood … China’s dams — its primary guard against floods — are coming into question as they face increasing strain. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, It has hit 27 out of the 31 provincial regions in mainland China, and in some places, water levels have reached perilous heights not seen since 1998, when massive floods … Areas of southern and central China have been hit by heavy flooding, and the country's flood response alert has been raised to the second highest level. Damage from this season's floods has been estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars, further pressuring an economy deeply impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a man paddles with an inflatable boat past submerged cars during a flood in Rongshui County in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, July 11. China's Southern Jiangxi Province Declares Highest Flood Alert By Reuters , Wire Service Content July 11, 2020 By Reuters , Wire Service Content July 11, 2020, at 7:16 a.m. Comments (0) Top Stories. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. (Long Linzhi/Xinhua via AP). The total amount of stored floodwater had now reached 88 percent of the reservoir’s total capacity, it added. Three landslides in Dunhao town in a mountainous part of Chongqing left six dead, the city's Emergency Management Bureau said. The second-highest rainfall that's swamped China in more than a half-century has fueled new questions about the world's biggest hydroelectric facility, billed as helping to tame floodwaters. China has allocated 460 million yuan (about $66.5 million) to support flood control and disaster relief in four regions, the government said Wednesday. The dam also was touted as the best way to end centuries of flooding along the Yangtze and provide power for China's industrial boom. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? He told Reuters that at Three Gorges, the storage capacity amounts to less than 9 percent of average floodwaters. China’s worst floods in recent years were in 1998, when more than 2,000 people died and almost 3 million homes were destroyed, mostly along the Yangtze. Its power operation went online in 2012, and it is one of China’s most expensive and questionable developmental projects. More than 14,000 people were evacuated. Downriver, firefighters and others finished filling in a 188-meter (620-foot) break in a dike on Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, Xinhua said. Permanent resident facing deportation hoping for Biden's help: 'Need a miracle', Supreme Court denies bid by Texas, Trump to overturn 2020 election, Trump admin offered $700M to 9/11 victims to save Sudan deal, Investigation and conviction in 1996 murder raises questions, Ghislaine Maxwell to offer $28.5 million bond in effort to get out of jail, In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, water flows out from sluiceways at the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River near Yichang in central China's Hubei Province, Friday, July 17, 2020. The incoming waters were expected to peak Saturday behind the Three Gorges Dam, but more water is forecast to arrive around Tuesday, Xinhua said. Continue reading. Market data provided by Factset. Residents in the Yangtze River basin in recent weeks have expressed concerns over the ability of the massive dam to handle more heavy rain, even though authorities have been releasing floodwater from the structure. ©2020 FOX News Network, LLC. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. BEIJING -- At least 14 people have died in the latest round of seasonal rains and flooding in southern China, as soldiers and workers built makeshift barriers with sandbags and rocks Saturday to keep the Yangtze River and its tributaries at bay. China's recovery from summer floods is taking place as the country marks its national Golden Week, a weeklong holiday marked by busy travel. The dam has come under new scrutiny after devastating flooding over the past few weeks. China warned that the worst of the deluges that have led millions to be evacuated may be yet to come, after a third wave of floods formed in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River on Sunday. Devastating China flooding puts controversial Three Gorges Dam under new scrutiny Questions are being raised about the dam's impact on floods and if the massive structure itself may be at risk Chinese state media dismissed concerns as being "hyped by some Western media," with the Global Times claiming the dam is able to meet a "once-in-a-millennium" water level at 175 meters or flow up to 70,000 cubic meters per second. China's dams — its primary guard against floods — are coming into question as they face increasing strain. July 15 – The Twitter accounts of prominent political figures, CEOs, and celebrities are hacked to promote a bitcoin scam. Legal Statement. Major cities have been spared so far, but concern has risen over Wuhan and other downstream metropolises that are home to tens of millions of people. 5 dead in latest flooding in southern China rainstorms Rainstorms have killed five more people in a southern Chinese region already reeling from heavy flooding over the past week. World; ... TODAY … Rains and floods extended to central and eastern China during July and were described as the worst since at least 1998. The Associated Press contributed to this report. More than 20,000 people had been evacuated and 1,031 homes destroyed. (Costfoto/Barcroft Media via Getty Images). Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. China’s worst floods in recent years were in 1998, when more than 2,000 people died and almost 3 million homes were destroyed, mostly along the Yangtze. or redistributed. The hydropower dam is used to mitigate catastrophic flooding. CHINA FLOODS KILL 5 MORE, AS RAINSTORMS IMPACT SOME 700,000 RESIDENTS. On the same day, more than 16,000 people were trapped in Guzhen town in the same province as the waters surged 10 feet high and broke through levees. The worst flooding in more than two decades has engulfed large swaths of China. The Ministry of Water Resources said in a statement that in Shaanxi Province on … But some geologists contended that damming up too much water in the reservoir carried a heightened risk of earthquakes and prolonged damage to the river's ecology. In 2012, the Ministry of Land Resources said the number of landslides and other disasters around the reservoir had increased 70 percent after the water level in the $23 billion project rose to its maximum in 2010. But after weeks of devastating flooding, questions are being raised about the Three Gorges Dam's impact on Yangtze floods and if the massive structure itself may be at risk. Floods across large swathes of central and eastern China leave more than 140 people dead or missing, with heavy rain forecast for five more days in the Yangtze River basin. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. China has experienced three of the world’s 10 most devastating floods since 1950. In this aerial photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a village is flooded in Sanjiao Township of the Yongxiu County in eastern China's Jiangxi Province July 13. ", CLICK HERE FOR MORE WEATHER COVERAGE FROM FOX NEWS. July 18 – COVID-19 pandemic: The … The Associated Press contributed to this report. Since last month, at least 141 people have died and around 28,000 homes have been damaged in the Yangtze River region, affecting virtually all of mainland China. Vice Minister of Emergency Management Zheng Guoguang told reporters on Monday that the Yangtze, Asia's longest river, and parts of its watershed have seen the second-highest rainfall since 1961 over the past six months. Last week, the government blasted open a dam in Anhui. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. All rights reserved. Rescue workers used inflatable rafts to rescue more than 1,900 people trapped in their homes and other buildings. The dam was holding back about 45% of the water, Xinhua said, citing China Three Gorges Corp. Upstream, 11 people had been killed in Chongqing as of Saturday morning, China National Emergency Broadcasting said in an online report, citing the municipal emergency agency. But critics of the controversial project are still skeptical. China has raised the flood alert level on a river in the east of the country after days of heavy rainfall. Residents swim past a riverside pavilion submerged by the flooded Yangtze River in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province July 8. China on flood alert – and climate change promises more extreme rain After the public plea, about 3,000 workers returned to man defence lines, the local government said. (Zhang Haobo/Xinhua via AP). "With hindsight, I think that all those experts who opposed the building of the Three Gorges were right," Zhang Jianping, an activist in Jiangsu, said on Radio Free Asia. Seasonal flooding strikes large parts of China annually, especially in its central and southern regions, but the rainfall has been unusually high this year. Hubei province, through which the Yangtze flows, is known for its numerous lakes and rivers and is under particular threat. All rights reserved. The province's capital Wuhan was the epicenter of China's coronavirus outbreak. The dike gave way nine days ago, flooding 15 villages and agricultural fields in Jiangxi province, the news agency said. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. (Chinatopix Via AP). Three more people died in neighboring Hubei province, the emergency management department said in a social media post. Major deadly flood in china 2020 todayDeadly floods and torrential rain in China affect over 20 million people#Floodchina2020 #FloodInChina #ChinaNews Three floodgates of the Three Gorges Dam that spans the Yangtze were opened as the water level behind the massive dam rose more than 15 meters (50 feet) above flood level, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The bodies had been found by Friday evening after more than 200 people were dispatched for a search and rescue operation. Most Popular Today 1 Warning issued ... China has been hit with a series of floods over the past year that have killed hundreds of people and displaced millions mainly in … Last week, the government blasted open a dam in Anhui. ©2020 FOX News Network, LLC. 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