First Flood Peak On Yangtze Passes Central Chinese City
The first flood peak on the Yangtze River passed Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, without mishap from 8:00 p.m. July 6 to 2:00 July 7 morning.
The Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said when the flood peak passed water levels at the Wuhanguan Hydrology Station were recorded at 27.68 meters, 0.38 meters above the danger line, with a flow of 65,000 cu.m. per second.
The rainy season on the river started June 15 and some areas of Sichuan Province and more than 40 counties and cities in Hubei and the Dongting Lake area were hit by heavy rainfall.
The increased water flow from the upper reaches of the Yangtze, coupled with the outflow from Dongting Lake, forced the main stream of the Yangtze to rise rapidly, forming the first flood peak.
A team of local Party and government leaders from Wuhan patrolled the city's 465 km. of embankments while the flood peak passed to check on flood control materials and equipment at different dangerous sections.
All gates to the Yangtze were closed and the most dangerous section at Longwangmiao at Hankou, where the Hanjiang River joins the main stream of the Yangtze, has been reinforced after more than 8 months of work at a cost of 120 million yuan (14 million US dollars), so no major danger was reported when the first flood peak passed Wuhan. (Xinhua)
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