Beijing, 19 August 2024 (TDI): Since the start of this year’s flood season, China’s major rivers have experienced twenty five significant flood events, the highest number recorded since data collection began in 1998.
The period has been marked by many extreme weather events, with heavy rainfall and severe floods occurring across both northern and southern regions, officials with the Ministry of Water Resources said at a media conference on Monday detailing the serious challenges that China is facing.
Despite the end of the most critical period, Vice Minister of Water Resources Wang Bao’en said that China remains in its primary flood season, with major challenges ahead.
Wang said that this year’s flood season has been marked by higher-than-usual cumulative rainfall influenced by Typhoon Gaemi.
The country witnessed a cumulative average rainfall of 183 millimeters, 10% higher than the annual average. Typhoon Gaemi dumped a total of 216.7 billion cubic meters of rainfall across the southern regions of China, which is a significant 43% more than the 151.8 billion cubic meters brought by Typhoon Doksuri in 2023.
Large-scale flooding occurred more frequently than annual average, with some thirty rivers across China exceeding historical flood levels. Major floods were recorded thirteen times in river basins including tributaries of the Yellow River, Yangtze River, Huaihe River, and Pearl River.
Overall, rivers exceeding warning levels were up 120% over the same period in previous years, with some exceeding flood control guarantee levels by nearly 60%, Wang told media.
This year’s flood season has witnessed an increase in the frequency of disasters, including the breaching of embankments in Yueyang, Central China’s Hunan Province, the collapse of highway bridge in Shangluo, Northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, and several flash floods and mudslides in different localities. These events spotlighted the extreme complexity and severity of the flood control situation, Wang said.
Presently, the Wusuli River located in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province bordering Russia is having severe flooding, and risk of secondary disasters from heavy rains persists, and the possibility for additional typhoon impacts could further complicate the flood control situation, according to the minister.
