China's weather authorities warned on Sunday that the Yangtze Basin will again be battered by heavy rain from Monday to Wednesday.
The National Meteorological Center said that from Monday to Wednesday, heavy downpours, thunderstorms and hale will hit parts of Southwest China's Sichuan Basin and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, with precipitation expected to reach over 200 millimeters in some areas.
It is likely small and medium-sized rivers surrounding Poyang Lake, Dongting Lake and Taihu Lake will overflow, said the center.
The center has renewed its blue alert due to thunderstorms Sunday morning, forecasting gale-force winds, heavy downpours and hail in eight provincial areas from Sunday to Monday evening, including parts of Hunan Province in Central China, Jiangxi and Fujian Province in East China, Guizhou and Yunnan Province in Southwest China, and Gansu and Ningxia Province in Northwest China. Precipitation is expected to reach up to 150 millimeters in some places.
A 30-meter-wide breach took place in the banks of the lower reaches of the Zhentian River in Huanggang, Hubei Province Sunday, affecting three nearby villages, 1,000 hectares of farmland and 67 hectares of fishponds. About 4,300 people living in three villages will be evacuated, news site cnr.cn reported.
According to the China Meteorological Administration, this year's rainfall level has surpassed that in any year since 1951. The heavy rain is putting pressure on flood control efforts in the area.
