Mr. Ye Jianchun, Vice Minister of China’s Ministry of Water Resources, said on July 13 that since June, heavy rain has caused water levels in 433 rivers in the country to exceed warning levels. Among them, there are only 11 rivers in the Yellow River basin in northern China, while more than 400 remain in the south.
As the water level rises in the Yangtze and Taihu lakes, China predicts that by the end of July and early August, heavy rain will appear in the northern region when the rainy season is approaching.
China is concerned that large floods may occur in the watersheds of the Tung Hoa, Lieu Ha, Hai Ha and Hoai Ha, and in the middle Yellow River.
“These river basins have not had floods for many years. People do not have much knowledge about flood control here and the capacity of local flood control is quite low, ”Mr. Ye said.
The Ministry of Water Resources will guide the northern regions to apply flood prevention measures, while, continuing to handle the situation in the south.
"The current situation of flood control in Yangtze and Taihu is still quite bleak," Mr. Ye said.
Most of the lower and middle regions of Yangtze have seen water levels rise above the warning level. Meanwhile, the water level in Taihu in the lower Yangtze is expected to constantly increase and can exceed 4.65 meters, the highest level at which the dyke surrounding the lake is designed to withstand.
Although yesterday the southern region has reduced rainfall, it is expected to return to this area from today until mid-week.
At 8am on July 13, the water level of Ba Duong Lake, China’s largest freshwater lake, reached a record level of 22.6 meters. Ba Duong Lake is the basin of the Yangtze River.
Meanwhile, Zheng Guoguang, the Deputy Minister of Emergency Management, said that although rainfall in the Yangtze basin was 51% higher than normal this year, the scenario of the horrific flood of the year. 1998 is unlikely. 22 years ago, severe flooding caused 4,150 deaths and caused $ 22.9 billion in damage.
Mr. Zheng said China compared to 20 years ago has better flood control capacity.
