Beijing, Jun 28 (IANS): China's Yangtze river is experiencing its 2024 "No.1 Flood", according to the Ministry of Water Resources, as the water level at Jiujiang hydrological station, one of the major monitoring spots for the mainstream's water level in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze has risen to 20 metres, reaching the warning level at 2 p.m. local time on Friday.
Affected by persistent heavy rainfalls, multiple tributaries connected to Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake, China's two largest freshwater lakes, have seen major flooding, reports Xinhua news agency.
The ministry raised the emergency responses to the flooding to Level III in the provinces of Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan on Friday and urgently sent four additional working teams to the front line to provide guidance to the flood relief.
China has a four-tier flood-control emergency-response system, with Level I being the most severe response.