Heavy Rain Hits Yangtze River Again, Inundating Cities and Leaving Many Homeless

A man looks out at vehicles stuck along a flooded street after heavy rains hit the area in Linyi, in China's eastern Shandong Province, on Aug. 14, 2020. STR/AFP via Getty Images

Flooding as a result of heavy rainfall in Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces caused the Yangtze River to overflow in recent days, inundating cities in China’s western regions.

The Yangtze’s water level in Chongqing city may exceed the safety level on Aug. 19, which means an embankment breach could happen at any time, according to state-run broadcaster CCTV, which cited officials.

China’s cabinet-like State Council said at a press conference on Aug. 13 that rainfall in areas along the Yangtze and Huai rivers have reached their highest levels since 1961.

A woman uses a bike to cross a flooded street after a sudden rain in Beijing on Aug. 9, 2020. NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images

Meanwhile, the country’s deputy minister of emergency management, Zhou Xuewen, unintentionally revealed that more than 4 million people were evacuated from their homes during floods this year.

Rainfall has begun to move north to the areas where the Yellow, Hai, Songhua, and Liao rivers lie. The Yellow River has experienced flooding since Aug. 11, but authorities have kept mum about its impact.

Two Floods

The Yangtze River Committee of China’s Water Resources Ministry announced on Aug. 16 that a new flood peak formed in the Jialing River, a main Yangtze tributary, and entered the Yangtze near Chongqing, a sprawling city with more than 30 million residents.

The peak of the Jialing river flooding is expected to trigger another flood peak in the Yangtze on Aug. 19, according to the committee.

The upper-stream area of the Yangtze River is also under threat from heavy rain, Chongqing authorities said on Aug. 16. Flooding from the Jialing River and the Yangtze’s upper stream may cause the latter’s water level to top its safety limit on Aug. 19.

Meanwhile, low-lying areas of Meishan, Guangyuan, and Deyang cities in Sichuan Province and Chongqing have been swamped by floodwaters since Aug. 13, according to videos that residents shared with The Epoch Times.