July 12, 2020

In light of the alarming water levels exceeding that of 1998 in China's largest fresh water lake located alongside the Yangtze River, and with the upcoming rains expected to fall in the middle and lower reaches of the river, China raised its national flood response level on Sunday to its second highest, with the public keeping a close watch on whether the Three Gorges Project can withhold the floods and if the country will suffer the same fate it did 22 years ago. 

Disaster-relief experts pointed out that economic growth has made the country more vulnerable to floods and prone to bigger losses, but the Three Gorges Project has made the river basin "much safer."  Experts were also optimistic about the progress made in logistics, resources coordination and technology that can help the country overcome a major disaster with minimal impact. 

At midnight Saturday, the water surface level at a hydrometric station at Poyang Lake in East China's Jiangxi Province, exceeded the 22.52 meter red mark of the 1998 floods. The 1998 disaster claimed some 4,150 lives and caused 160 billion yuan ($22.9 billion) in economic damages. 

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https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1194294.shtml