China’s Massive Floods and Troubled Dam
China’s Massive Floods and Troubled Dam
By Todd Strandberg
Chinese authorities have issued a series of flood warnings as weeks of torrential rains have caused the worst flooding in more than 30 years, destroying the homes and impacting the livelihoods of millions of people. Because China is a foe of Trump, the Western news media has largely ignored this calamity.
According to the Ministry of Emergency Management, by the end of June, flooding had displaced 744,000 people across 26 provinces, with 81 people missing or dead. In early July, the South China Morning Post reported that about 20 million residents had been affected and at least 121 people were dead or missing. As of 13 July, floods have affected 37.89 million people in 27 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, 141 people are dead or missing, and 28,000 houses have collapsed. The Ministry of Water Resources said that a total of 443 rivers are at flood stage, with 33 of them swelling to the highest levels ever recorded.
Most news outlets have posted stories about authorities in central China having to blast a dam to release surging waters behind it amid widespread flooding across the country that has claimed scores of lives. State broadcaster CCTV reported the dam on the Chuhe River in Anhui province was destroyed with explosives, after which the water level was expected to drop by more than 2 feet.
Back in the day when we had true journalism, reporters would ask, why is China blowing up an expensive dam? They would also ask, where is that water going? The people down river would probably like to know the answers to these questions. Many of them were flooded out without any warning.
The Chinese Communist Party has been largely downplaying the problem, only offering standard platitudes. President Xi said governments at all levels should be “mobilized” in fighting the floods and provide relief to those affected.
“It’s very important to handle flood prevention and disaster relief work properly, as China will build a moderately prosperous society in all respects and win the battle against poverty by the end of this year,” said Xi during a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
Yet locals are telling a different story.
“The local officials are telling us to go live with our families and friends,” Wuhan resident Zhang Yi said; “You see, at the beginning of the year, we weren’t allowed to visit families. Now, we are asked to do so.” He added that he hadn’t received any relief funds or resources from the government so far.
The Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government allocated about 309 million yuan (44.2 million U.S. dollars) for disaster relief in flood-hit regions. With 40 million affected by the floods, each person would receive a little over a single dollar of aid.
There has been a great deal of discussion on social media about the well-being of Three Gorges Dam. It is the world’s largest hydroelectric power station, with an installed capacity of 22,500 megawatts of power generation. Three Gorges Dam is fed by a drain catchment area of about 390,000 square miles.
This huge power station is down river from a handful of other dams that exist at a higher elevation. Because all these other dams have been forced to discharge their water downstream, Three Gorges Dam is buckling under the strain of massive flows of water.
The operator of the dam was forced to admit last week that it has “deformed slightly,” with peripheral parts of its 1.5-mile span buckling. The shift has displaced some structures and caused an unknown seepage of water. Since the Chinese government lies about nearly everything, one has to wonder about the true status of the dam.
Three floodgates were opened as the water level behind the dam rose more than 50 feet above the flood zone. More crests are expected to arrive at the dam in the coming days. China’s military has been testing the strength of embankments and shoring them up with sandbags and rocks.
A few years back, a U.S. engineer was asked to inspect the Three Gorges Dam and was shocked by the poor quality of the cement, the lack of curing time, and he didn’t think they had used enough rebar. The most troubling thing about the dam is that it’s not set on solid rock. Its massive weight is expected to withstand the pressure from a small ocean of water.
Any type of compromise in the Three Gorges Dam would be an epic disaster. There are over 600 million people living downstream from this dam. It would be better for China to suffer a nuclear attack on its five largest cities than to endure a sudden collapse of the Three Gorges Dam.
The mindset that it’s unthinkable that something could go wrong with Three Gorges Dam is why a historic calamity could happen. It is very worrying to have China’s mouthpiece on foreign affairs saying that the dam is facing “smears and rumors” and is being defamed with “groundless hype” from the anti-China Western media.
Because a breach of the Three Gorges Dam would have an immensely negative impact on the Chinese economy, I didn’t see how it could occur ahead assembly of the 200-million-man army. Since other armies have been amassed under harsh conditions, I will half-jokingly suggest that the Kings of the East are simply looking for drier ground.
“And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared” (Rev 16:12).
— Todd