China raises flood alarms again and again, millions of people are miserable

Hoai Linh• July 12, 2020 16:06

China raised its flood response alert to the second highest level on Tuesday as torrential rain continued to batter areas along the Yangtze River.

China raises flood alarms again and again, millions of people suffer. Photo: CGTN

Currently, the eastern provinces of Jiangsu and Jiangxi are among the most severely affected areas.

According to CGTN, as of this morning, the water level at Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province has reached a record 22.72 meters. The previous peak was 22.52 meters in 1998 when severe flooding hit China. Poyang is the largest freshwater lake in China.

Photo: CGTN

As of yesterday afternoon, more than 5.2 million people were affected and 430,000 others in areas along Poyang Lake had to be evacuated.

Jiangxi provincial authorities yesterday (July 11) raised the flood response alert from level II to level I – the highest level on China's four-tier warning scale.

Photo: CGTN

Since early July, water levels in a total of 212 rivers in China have exceeded warning levels, with 19 of them reaching historic highs, according to China's Ministry of Water Resources.

The floods have caused more than 60 billion yuan in economic losses to China. The National Development and Reform Commission has allocated 309 million yuan to flood-hit areas. Due to heavy rains since June, some areas in China have been on the highest flood alert.