A dyke has been breached on Dongting Lake, China’s second-largest freshwater lake. Dongting Lake is a major flood basin of the Yangtze River, one of China’s most important shipping channels. Six thousand residents were forced to evacuate from towns below the breach, which grew to 220 meters in length on Friday (see videos below). The regional government spent 8.5 billion yuan in 2022 to reinforce the banks of Dongting Lake. Unfortunately, the section where the breach occurred was not included in the project. More than 10,000 tonnes of sand and stone will be needed to repair the breach next week.
On July 5, a dike breach occurred at #Dongting Lake, #China‘s second-largest freshwater lake, in Yueyang, Hunan Province. 🙏🏻
Over 2,300 rescue personnel have been deployed by the Hunan and Yueyang authorities, with more than 5,000 people urgently evacuated.
📷: People’s Daily pic.twitter.com/16w14CGdm0— Bridging News (@BridgingNews_) July 6, 2024
More footage of the flooding today in Pingjiang County, Hunan Province, China 🇨🇳
▪︎ 1 July 2024 ▪︎#floods #flooding #China #HunanProvince #PingjiangCounty pic.twitter.com/OyRD4NSG1g
— DISASTER TRACKER (@DisasterTrackHQ) July 1, 2024
Timelapse of flooding in Meizhou, Guangdong, China [16th of June 2024]
Via: @yangyubin1998 pic.twitter.com/VtHFMP8zGX
— Don dada (@real1dondada) June 26, 2024
Elsewhere in China, at least 71 people were killed by flash flooding and landslides in Guangdong province (see timelapse video above). Another river in Hunan province reached its highest level in 70 years earlier this week, inundating thousands of homes and businesses. In all, the Chinese government has allocated more than $316 million for emergency flood relief in recent weeks. Much more will likely be needed as forecasters predict at least two more weeks of heavy rain and flooding for the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.