Wuhan, capital of central China's?Hubei
Province,?stood up to the first crest of the flood-prone
Yangtze River on July 25, according to the local flood and drought
control department.
The flood peak passed Hankou -- one of the three areas that make
up the city of Wuhan -- reaching 25.23 meters, 0.23 meter above the
warning line but still two meters below the alarm level.
By 8:00 AM on July 26, the water level had dropped to 25.20
meters with the rate of flow slowing from 54,300 cubic meters per
second to 53,800.
The water level at the Hankou section of the river had already
topped the 25-meter warning line on July 23, and reached its crest
at 25.23 meters at 1:00 PM Sunday afternoon, according to Wu
Zhaohui, an official with the Hubei Provincial Water Resources
Department.
Water levels at the major hydrological stations in Wuhan this
year are about one meter lower than those of the 2003 flood season,
largely because the upstream Three Gorges Dam blocked water for
reserves in May.
Still, the provincial flood control headquarters has urged
workers to be alert for any potential floods and reinforce all
reservoirs, dykes and embankments due to heavy downpours in?Hunan
and?Jiangxi
provinces.
(Xinhua News Agency, July 26, 2004)
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