From Our
Correspondent
BEIJING: Major rivers and lakes in China have seen their water levels rise due to continuous downpours, local authorities said on Sunday.
In central China’s Hubei Province, as of 7 a.m. on Sunday, water at six rivers had exceeded the warning level after heavy rains continued to lash the province, said the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.
Meanwhile, water at three lakes has exceeded the warning level and has risen above the guaranteed level at another two lakes. The guaranteed water level refers to the upper limit of the safe water level.
Hubei’s nine major reservoirs have also exceeded safe limits.
According to the local emergency management department, as of 7 a.m. on Sunday, intense rains since Friday had affected 58,200 people, displaced 1,220, and caused direct economic losses of 60.34 million yuan (about 8.6 million U.S. dollars) in the cities of Jingmen, Xiaogan, and Huanggang.
Meanwhile, Poyang Lake, China’s largest freshwater lake located in the eastern province of Jiangxi, has seen its water level rise to a record high on Sunday, according to the provincial department of water resources.
At around 12:00 a.m. on Sunday, the water level at the lake’s Xingzi hydrological station rose to 22.53 meters, 0.01 meters higher than the record in 1998, and continued going up, said the department.
