China’s Massive Three Gorges Dam Is In Peril
Over the last month, most people have not paid much attention to the weather in China. This is because it is not something we dwell upon but it merits our attention because word has been leaking out that China’s massive Three Gorges Dam is in peril. Most of us have little knowledge of this dam which is the world’s largest or the implications if it does fail. The biggest is a massive loss of life and property. After record rainfall with more expected concern is rising as the flooding continues,
It is said about 400 million people live downstream of the dam and apparently no plans have been made for their evacuation. Here are a few facts about the dam. The Three Gorges Dam is around one and a half miles long and just over 600 feet tall. It is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, China. Construction was started in the 1990s and completed in 2006. Its failure would have catastrophic consequences and could kill around half a million people.
Vice Minister of Emergency Management Zheng Guoguang said on Monday that the Yangtze, Asia’s longest river, and parts of its watershed have seen the second-highest rainfall since 1961 over the past six months. Residents in the Yangtze River basin in recent weeks have expressed concerns over the ability of the massive dam to handle more heavy rain, even though authorities have been releasing floodwater from the structure. If the dam does fail the province’s capital Wuhan the epicenter of China’s coronavirus outbreak would be hard hit.
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