TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Authorities in Wuhan on Tuesday (July 7) released the highest level alert for torrential rain as floodwaters continue to rise in the city.
Wuhan, which is where the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic originated, is located at the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and below the Three Gorges Dam, which local authorities have admitted has released floodwater discharges to release the strain on the facility. At 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning, Wuhan's meteorological office issued a red alert for torrential rain.
Red is the severest of China's four-tiered, color-coded weather warning system, followed by orange, yellow, and blue. In addition, the Wuhan section of the Yangtze River is continuing to swell with floodwaters.
Heavy rains on Monday (July 6) led to the flooding of the sightseeing platform at Wuhan's Longwang Temple, reported Xinhua. At 7 a.m. on Tuesday morning, the Changjiang Water Resources Commission (CWRC) also announced that the water at Hankou station had reached the warning level, and people were urged not to venture out due to the possibility of flooding.
China University of Geosciences campus. (Weibo photo)
Wuhan's meteorological office has issued heavy rain warnings for the beleaguered city since Sunday (July 5). When the weather bureau announced a red alert at 8:16 a.m., it added that rainfall in Wuhan's Huangpi District has exceeded 60 millimeters, with more rain expected for at least three more hours and flooding highly likely.
On Monday, floodwaters inundated Wuhan's Wuchang River Beach, partially submerging many trees and sculptures, while the campus of the China University of Geosciences also experienced flooding. At 7 a.m. on Tuesday, the CWRC issued an urgent alert saying that the water level at Hankou Station on the Yangtze River had reached a warning level of 27.3 meters and a flow rate of 52,900 cubic meters per second, signs of disastrous flooding.
Many Chinese netizens noted that Wuhan has had a really bad year so far: first the start of a global pandemic, and now the worst flooding in decades.
武漢朋友發來的官媒抖音，淹水應該是真的了 pic.twitter.com/3u09UiU2Jh
— 悲哀和無奈 (@roger_yy) July 6, 2020
武漢中華門碼頭，長江水已經漫上馬路，目測接近98年水位，武漢明天還有一天暴雨，上游四川重慶也在暴雨，武漢危矣
— 独行侠 (@Vincent198964) July 6, 2020
以往年經驗，都會故意把洪水引向農村，湖北人民又要遭殃了 pic.twitter.com/pVZMOaLFlp
7月6日，武漢城區被淹，街道成河，長江超出警戒水位逼近城區。 pic.twitter.com/6ggnyBCzIG
— 小婷 (@ttingxiao) July 6, 2020
武漢軟件工程學院門口。 pic.twitter.com/mZyEqePCAn
— JMa (@JMa09415059) July 6, 2020
武漢朋友發來的官媒抖音，淹水應該是真的了 pic.twitter.com/3u09UiU2Jh
— 悲哀和無奈 (@roger_yy) July 6, 2020
