Major Yangtze River tributary breaks record flood level

CHANGSHA -- Days of torrential rain in Central China's Hunan province raised the water level of the Xiangjiang River, a major tributary of Yangtze River, to exceed its record flood level Sunday morning.

The water level in the section of the river in Changsha, capital of Hunan, reached 39.21 meters at 6:30 am, above the previous record of 39.18 meters set by a massive flood in 1998.

Already at 3.2 meters above the warning level, the water level is expected to continue to rise as heavy rain is forecast for upstream regions over the next few days.

Meanwhile, the water levels in Dongting Lake and several other major rivers in Hunan have all risen above warning levels, worsening the flood control situation.

Rain started to batter Hunan on June 22 and the ensuing flooding has forced 311,300 people to evacuate, damaged 295,160 hectares of crops and destroyed 6,369 houses, according to the provincial meteorological service.

Rainstorms lashed 832 towns in south and eastern Hunan from Saturday morning to Sunday morning, with Huangtang in Ningyuan County receiving the most precipitation at 264.2 mm within 24 hours.

In neighboring Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, flooding disrupted railway services with 45 trains canceled, returned to origin or detoured.