Agence France-Presse
December 16, 2005

The Yangtze River has been closed to all traffic at the site of the Three Gorges dam as flood water is now so high it is dangerous for ships to pass.

Beijing: China’s longest river, the Yangtze, became the latest victim of destructive rains gripping the country when a section of the vast waterway was closed for navigation, state media said Saturday. The official China Daily said the waterway at the Three Gorges dam site in the central province of Hubei was closed as flood waters were expected to hit a volume of 46,000 cubic metres (more than 10 million gallons) per second by Saturday evening. Officials say navigation has to halt once floodwaters reach a volume of 30,000 cubic metres at the diversion canal for the world’s biggest dam, which is expected to become operational from next year. Temporary ship elevators have to be closed when water-flow reaches 45,000 cubic metres per second, the officials said. The floods follow heavy rains battering the southwest of China, especially Sichuan province and Chongqing city, situated upstream of the dam. About 200 people are feared dead in floods and landslides around China in recent days, raising the total toll so far this year to around 1,000. More than 100 million people have been affected by the floods around China. National anti-flood officials have expressed fears that this summer’s flooding could prove even worse than that of 1998, when China experienced some of the most severe floods in its recent history, killing about 4,000 people. Authorities in Hengyang, in the central province of Hunan, say more than 67,000people have been affected by rising waters in Leiyang district, leaving 10,000 without shelter, Red Cross official France Hurtubise told AFP. In the south western Yunnan province, 106 people have been found dead since July 30 with floods affecting 14 districts, according to the China Youth Daily newspaper. Some 72 are reported missing and 311 wounded. A total of 61 villages and 27,000 people have been affected by the water, with 13,000 evacuated, the paper said