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Workers on Monday scoop up trash floating on a section of the upper reaches of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, ahead of the second flood peak anticipated in the region. (Photo: China Daily)
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BEIJING, July 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Due to fresh torrential downpours, the Three Gorges Dam is expected to endure its second flood peak on Wednesday morning, according to local authorities.
The latest statistics from the State's Office of Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters indicate floods in China this year left 823 people dead and 437 missing as of Monday morning, with direct economic losses of 154 billion yuan ($22.6 billion).
The flood peak at the Three Gorges, though smaller than the prior overflow, will reach some 56,000 cubic meters per second at about 8 am on Wednesday, the China Three Gorges Corporation said on Monday.
On Sunday evening, the Yangtze River Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters increased the water discharge volume from 34,000 to 40,000 cubic meters per second to lower the water level in the dam in anticipation of the coming flood.
Consequently, by 1 pm on Monday, the water level of the dam fell to 156.79 meters, 2.07 meters lower than its highest level, according to the latest data from the China Three Gorges Corporation.
Between Monday and Thursday, a new round of downpours are expected to hit parts of South China, with a maximum rainfall of 150 mm, the China Meteorological Administration forecasted on Monday.
Water flow rates through the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in Central China's Hubei province swelled on Monday, as already drenched riverside towns prepared for even more flooding.
