Since the beginning of the flood season, Chongqing has been hit by eight rounds of persistent rainstorms, leading to saturated soil moisture and high bottom water in small and medium-sized rivers, which has left the limited room to respond to new floods.
Staff members observed the flood by drones in Qijiang.
According to the weather forecast, it is expected that from July 6 to July 9, due to heavy rainfalls in Chongqing and its surrounding provinces, the water level of the city's rivers of various sizes will generally see a more substantial rise.
Chongqing Water Resources Bureau has decided to activate the level-III emergency response of flood prevention at 21:00 on July 5, as a new round of heavy rainfall is likely to lead to flooding of small and medium-sized rivers in Chongqing and the Wujiang River basin.
The frontline rescue work in Qijiang
Since July 1, our reporter has visited regions where it rained heavily and where there were floods and witnessed the efforts people made to fight against disasters in the frontline.
The frontline rescue work in Qijiang
As Chongqing has many mountains and valleys, coupled with persistent heavy rains, it is more likely to result in secondary disasters such as landslides and debris flow. In Yongchuan District, where rainfalls frequently hit it, each of the 60 grassroots disaster monitors was responsible for a duty station. It was pouring rain on July 1, and Hou Fang, a monitor in Yonggang Village of Yongchuan District, waded through the river and climbed on the slope of a disaster point to (monitor the situation).
The cleaning work after the flood in Jiangjin
Heavy rains tend to result in floods. On July 2, our reporter left Yongchuan early in the morning and rushed to Guangxing Town in Jiangjin District. Here, the Qijiang flood peak has just passed through, and the water level was receding. As soon as the flood subsided, the local government began to organize personnel to conduct dredging and disinfection. With no time to take a rest, Su Xianyang, along with more than a dozen other community officials and volunteers, took shovels and fire hoses to wash away mud and garbage left behind by the floods, with rain continuing falling and their feet submerged in the water.
The disinfection work after the flood in Jiangjin
As the water from Qijiang River and Wujiang River surged, the flood control task along the Yangtze River also became tough. On July 2, the "2020 Yangtze River No.1 Flood" formally came into being. On July 3, the flood passed through the Fuling River section in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region at 2 a.m.
The "2020 Yangtze River No.1 Flood" in Fuling
After taking the monitoring ship of Qingxichang Hydrological Station along the Yangtze River and when the ship sailed to the middle of the river, the fish lead equipped with flow velocity measurement instruments were thrown into the Yangtze River, and relevant information was summarized and uploaded in real-time.
Zhu Hui (the left one) and his colleague installed the flow velocity measuring instrument on the fish lead.
"The station staff is on alert during the flood season, and at night they have to monitor changes in rain, water level, and flow," said Zhu Hui, Director of Qingxichang Hydrological Station, noting that through hydrological monitoring at various stations along the Yangtze River, the flood early warning information network has been established.
After the fish lead equipped with the flow velocity measuring instrument, it will be lifted by the crane into the Yangtze River.
Heavy rains continued in some parts of Chongqing on July 3 and 4, with maximum daily rainfall of more than 120 millimeters in local areas. Our reporter will keep follow up on the rainfall and flood updates. Across Chongqing, frontline disaster prevention is still underway.
At Wucha Hydrological Station, the staff monitored various data at any time