Flooding resulting from a widened dyke breach at China’s second-biggest freshwater lake—the first lake downstream of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River—has forced thousands of residents to flee overnight as waters left their rooftops submerged within hours.
The flood swept through Huarong county of the central Chinese province of Hunan on the evening of July 5, after blockade efforts at an embankment on the shore of Dongting Lake failed, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Within five hours, the length of the breach extended from 10 meters (32 feet) to about 150 meters (492 feet), the broadcaster reported.
Despite ongoing blockade efforts, the breach extended 220 meters (741 feet) beyond the dyke by noon on July 6, Zhang Nan, spokesperson for Hunan’s provincial emergency management department, said during a briefing later that day. He added that submerged lands surpassed 47.6 square kilometers, or 18 square miles.
No casualties have been reported as of July 7.
A local resident surnamed Wu told The Epoch Times on July 6 that the dyke breach caused flooding of up to five meters (16.4 feet) depth in low-lying areas around the lake. Some multi-story houses were submerged, trapping people on their rooftops, he added.
Mr. Hu is now worried how he and his family will cope in the aftermath of the flood. With his home and farmland saturated, the father fears that his cotton and other crops might not survive the deluge.
“The floodwater now is in my front yard, and both of my homes and farmland are affected,” Mr. Hu said. “I’m afraid there may be no harvest this year.”
Local communist Party officials have barely paid mention to the hardships facing locals impacted by the flooding. China’s new media, which is tightly controlled by the Party, focused on the efforts of authorities to carry out rescue operations. CCTV reported on July 6 that over 2,000 local relief workers and 610 boats had been mobilized for emergency rescue operations in Huarong county.
Some Chinese characterized officials’ responses as box-ticking exercises that prioritize form over substance.
“It was all about formalities,” said a Weibo user.
“They were claiming credit before even doing the work,” another replied, referring to the response of local officials.
On July 5, the day of the dyke breach at Dongting Lake, a document from Huarong county’s flood control department emerged on overseas social media platform X, offering a glimpse of how officials had controlled the way the disaster was being reported by domestic media.
Cover Up
Heavy rains have battered southern and central China for weeks.CCTV reported that officials at China’s Ministry of Water Resources expected the Yangtze River to continue having high water levels for two weeks.
Earlier this month, days of torrential rains set off the worst flooding in decades in the nearby Pingjiang county, and also in Hunan Province’s Yueyang city. The Miluo River, flowing through Pingjiang county, experienced a significant rise in water levels, surpassing 77 meters (252 feet) on July 2. Local officials have said it marks the highest water level recorded since 1954.
Still, there have been no reports of casualties.
Local residents, however, have doubted the accuracy of the official reports, saying they know of people who have died in the floods.
One resident told The Epoch Times on July 2 that his friend had drowned after being swept away by the floodwaters, and that he knows of others in his neighborhood community who suffered the same fate.
Another resident said he believes that an elderly resident who lives alone in a first-floor apartment was swept away by the floodwaters but he cannot confirm the man’s death. These residents spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal.
“Many have died in Pingjiang but there were no official reports” of a death toll, a third resident told The Epoch Times on July 2.
