Record floods begin to recede in Chongqing

CHONGQING: Flooding in the southwesten Chongqing Municipality started receding with water levels at major hydrologic stations dropping below alarm levels.

The metropolis on Saturday afternoon downgraded its flood emergency response from the top level to level four, the lowest rung in the country’s four-tier emergency response system.

Water levels at the Cuntan hydrologic station fell below the emergency level of 180.5m at 8am on Saturday.

The water flow at the station also dropped from a peak of 74,600 cubic meters per second to 36,300 cubic meters per second, according to station sources.

Water at Caiyuanba and Chaotianmen hydrologic stations was also flowing below warning levels.

Chongqing saw a record breaking flood as water levels at the Cuntan station rose to 191.55m, 0.14m higher than the record in 1981, at around 8am Thursday, prompting the municipality to initiate a top-level response.

The floods prompted the evacuation of 251,000 people and inundated 23,700 shops, but saw no deaths, according to the city’s emergency management bureau.

Disaster relief and production resumption are underway, with gas supply resuming for 15,000 households.

Yan Yonghui, an official with Chongqing’s flood control and drought relief headquarters, said the emergency response was downgraded instead of being lifted as the municipality still faces an urgent task to restore its life and production to normalcy. — Xinhua