Rain swells China's Yangtze River

BEIJING, July 17 (UPI) -- Emergency officials said Saturday the upper Yangtze River had topped flood stage due to continuing torrential rains in southern and central China. Water levels in Taihu Lake and Poyang Lake were also on the rise, prompting Beijing to alert local officials to keep a close eye on levees and reservoirs.

www.upi.com...

the Article says these are the worst rains in 50years...

Does anyone know if by upper river they mean above the three gorges dam?
there is alot of talk about it not being able to hold up to what the earth can dish out.

I am going to try and find out more about this and keep this thread updated, I doubt we will hear anything until a city gets flooded.

Excuse my ignorance but is this the same one that leads to the dam? Im talking about the dam that was cracking? I may be wrong though im still trying to find info regarding. So i may be wrong.

Yes, the Yangtze river and 3 gorges dam.
I just dont know exactly where up river is I know the three gorges dam is up river from the city cant remember the name but its a large city so I am thinking above the damn.

TONGCHENG, China, July 14 (UPI) -- An improvement in the weather allowed Chinese soldiers to blow up a leaking dike on a swollen branch of the Yangtze River Wednesday, an army official says.

www.upi.com...


in this article they talk about a branch of the Yangtze and blowing up a dyke to lower the water level, I am still looking for more on this too see how the dam is coping.

on a later thought I wonder what dyke they blew up rosie or ellen

[edit on 17-7-2010 by -W1LL]

Just makes me wonder if the dam was to break whats the location that sits in its path?

Originally posted by jazz10
Just makes me wonder if the dam was to break whats the location that sits in its path?

countless people would be in very big trouble if this damn breaks.

here is its location
maps.google.com...:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=9ytCTJ-bO8L-8Aae5I3 RDw&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&ved=0CBAQ_AU

Yes the Three Gorges Dam has cracks in it from before it was even finished I think. The weight of the reservoir is so great that it could cause a giant earthquake because the dam and reservoir were built on a fault line.

Originally posted by Starbug3MY
Yes the Three Gorges Dam has cracks in it from before it was even finished I think. The weight of the reservoir is so great that it could cause a giant earthquake because the dam and reservoir were built on a fault line.

cracks can be dealt with well most cracks,

what really worries me - l will try and find the source (history channel maybe?), the engineers were worried about silt/soil and algae growing and piling up on the walls of the dam I dont remember exactly but it was something like 60% of the dam is currently covered now with this flooding who knows floods always carry so much crap with them, the force of the water combined with the weight and force of solid objects all the weight from the soil I dont see how that dam will stay standing.

then to make matters worse it is sitting on a fault line and just the weight of the water alone will affect our entire planets rotation and gravitational pull in that area, seems like a catastrophe waiting to happen...

UPDATE: Stunning Photos Of China's Worst Flood In A Decade

alot of good pics.
www.businessinsider.com...

The worst flooding in 12 years is making its way to the top of Chinese slowdown concerns. Beijing estimates direct damage at $21 billion-and-rising, according to China Daily. 7 million hectares of farmland have been destroyed and 645,000 houses have been toppled. Over 700 people are reported dead. 8 million (imagine the entire population of New Jersey) have been evacuated. 110 million have been exposed to floods. And it could be worse. China thanks the new Three Gorges Dam for preventing floods like those in 1998, which killed thousands.

they make is sound like the dam is great because things could be worse,
I am not sure I believe that I fear something is failing or not working right in the dam.

I read a thread here I think, or on some news site that they have already evacuated 3 million people form the dam area.

Yeah It might go.

UPDATE - China evacuates 100,000 as rains swell rivers

China has evacuated more than 100,000 people as a river burst its banks and heavy rains continued in flood-hit regions along the perilously swollen Yangtze river, state media said Saturday.

China is grappling with its worst flooding in a decade, with at least 1,100 people killed or missing this year, and Premier Wen Jiabao warned Saturday of possibly worse to come during an inspection tour of flood-hit Hubei province.

In Hubei, floods from torrential rains overnight Friday killed six people, left eight others missing, and forced the evacuation of 7,700 around the city of Yichang near the Three Gorges Dam, Xinhua said.

The massive hydroelectric project on the Yangtze river has come under scrutiny as dam authorities struggle to drain its fast-rising reservoir -- swollen by upstream rains -- while avoiding swamping communities downstream.

rawstory.com...


not much I can say it looks bad no one is talking about the massive amount of silt that I am sure is building up against the dam.
and this is really just the start there is much more rain to come.