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Sleepless nights on China’s dykes as floods hit 34 million people
- Thousands of ‘watchers’ like Wu Shengsong monitor riverbanks and dykes for signs of breaches
- At least 140 people reported dead or missing as country is ravaged by storms and deluge
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Saturday was another sleepless night for Wu Shengsong.
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It was his fifth in a row on patrol duty on the banks of the Xi River in Poyang county, Shangrao, east China’s Jiangxi province.
Soon after he started his shift, lightning lit up the sky and thunder rolled in the distance. Wu stood silent and still, fearful of the storm gathering above his head and the stability of the ground beneath his feet.
“I’m a little worried,” he said. “The forecast is for several days of rain.”
Wu works as an official in the village of Wanli, close to Poyang Lake, China’s largest freshwater lake. By Sunday morning, after a heavy downpour and a release of floodwater from the Yangtze River upstream, its water level had risen to an all-time high of more than 22.5 metres (74 feet), putting many of the towns and villages that lie beyond the dyke that surrounds it at risk.
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China’s massive floods move east, battering communities along Yangtze River
China’s massive floods move east, battering communities along Yangtze River
Wanli is just one of many villages that have been hit by China’s latest floods, which have spread to 27 of 31 mainland provinces. According to official figures, as of Saturday, almost 34 million people had been affected and at least 140 reported dead or missing.
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