China Flooding Season: Flash-Flood Warning Raised as 4 Rivers Exceed Dangerous Levels

Following a series of severe rains, water levels in numerous rivers have exceeded danger thresholds, putting China on the verge of a flood season.

In recent weeks, rain levels in certain regions of central and southern China have reached new highs. From Tuesday through Friday, the second round of heavy rain will hit the southern portions of the country.

Worrying Flood Levels

According to Chinese state media quoting the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR), floods in the Xiangjiang River in Central China's Hunan Province, four rivers in East China's Jiangxi and Fujian Provinces, and South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region would surpass warning levels.

The report from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Aerospace Information Research Institute said that China has entered the main flooding season, with the water level of Poyang Lake, dubbed the "Kidney of the Yangtze River," reaching 18 meters, approaching the 19-meter flood warning level, more than a month earlier than previous years.

Series of Heavy Rains

From Tuesday to Friday, a new round of heavy rain will hit the country's southern regions, potentially causing flooding in the Xiangjiang River in Hunan Province, four rivers in East China's Jiangxi and Fujian Provinces, and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in South China, according to the report.

In locations where rainstorms occur, larger floods may occur in certain small and medium-sized rivers.

On Monday, Guangdong Province in South China declared a level-IV emergency reaction to flood prevention and boosted the risk of waterlogging. Twelve hydrometric stations in the province recorded heavy rain of more than 250 millimeters, with the largest cumulative rainfall being 476 millimeters, from Sunday night to Monday morning.

Emergency Simulation

Local water resources officials in Hunan and the Yangtze River Hydrological Bureau collaborated on an emergency monitoring exercise along the Xiangjiang River on May 26 in response to flood warnings, according to MOWR on Monday.

The exercise was designed to simulate a situation in which severe rains create excessive flooding in the Xiangjiang River's lower reaches, resulting in a bank collapse and water flowing into towns, creating pollution issues.

Preemptive Measures

An official from MOWR said on Thursday that the water level of the Three Gorges Reservoir was expected to fall below the 145-meter limit set to control flooding before June 10 as planned and that 47 reservoirs along the Yangtze River basin had made preparations to relieve floods, the majority of which had been discharged to full levels.

On May 24, the ministry stated that it had made adequate preparations to deal with the next flooding season.

Worsening Floods

It stated that the flood situation in May is within the typical range, as it has been in recent years, but that the situation might worsen.

Since the middle of May, South China has seen torrential rains and rising water levels in key rivers.

On May 24, the MOWR's Yangtze River Commission launched a level-IV emergency response for flood prevention in the Yangtze River, where the water level of the main control stations in the middle and lower reaches is 2.3 to 4.1 meters higher than historical levels and 4.6 to 7 meters higher than the same period in 2020.

Water levels at seven hydrometric stations along the Yangtze River, mostly along the main tributaries of Poyang Lake, exceeded alert criteria. Water from the five rivers flowed at a rate of more than 30,000 cubic meters per second into Poyang Lake.

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