Water level in Wuhan section of China's Yangtze River exceeds warning mark

The Yangtze River, China's longest river, has seen the water level of its section in Wuhan, the capital of central China's Hubei Province, exceed its warning mark for the first time in almost four years.

As of 9:50 p.m. Monday, water at the Hankou monitoring station of the Yangtze River has reached the alert mark of 27.3 meters, reaching this level for the first time since August 2020, according to the Wuhan flood control and drought relief headquarters.

Persistent rains in recent days have driven water levels in the mainstream of the Yangtze River and several tributaries of the Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake basins to go above their alert marks, with water levels at several hydrological stations exceeding their average heights, in recent years, by up to 3.37 meters.

Torrential rains are forecast to lash the Yangtze River's middle and lower reaches from Monday to Tuesday. The rains are forecast to move westward and hit the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, as well as the upper and middle reaches of the Hanjiang River, from Wednesday to Sunday.

The headquarters said authorities in Wuhan have dispatched over 14,500 people to patrol the dikes across the city.

Heavy rains have also wreaked havoc in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The local meteorological service on Monday evening raised the emergency response to rainstorms to Level III, as heavy rains are expected to hit many parts of the region in the coming days.

By 8 a.m. Monday, 62 townships in 15 counties of Guangxi had recorded precipitation between 100 millimeters and 250 millimeters in the latest wave of rain, which began on Saturday evening.

Local authorities in Guangxi have urged the public to take precautions against potential flash floods, landslides and waterlogging in both urban and rural areas.