China is facing the most severe flooding this year since 2024. The breach of the first-line levee in Tuanzhou Dike, Huarong County, Hunan Province, has led to widespread inundation of surrounding areas. Residents question the authorities’ ineffective efforts in sealing the breach. Moreover, the reinforced “second line of defense” by the authorities is now under great strain and it is unclear whether the levee has been breached as there is a blackout of information from the government. Local residents have expressed frustration, stating, “We can’t see any relevant information anymore.”
On the afternoon of July 5th, the first-line levee of Dongting Lake in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County, Yueyang City, collapsed, widening the breach from 10 meters to 100 meters in just over an hour. The lake water has inundated a large area, causing significant damage to the surrounding regions.
Efforts by the official rescue team to block the breach with sand-filled vehicles have not been successful. Ms. Xu, a resident of Yueyang City, criticized the authorities for not using proper methods to seal the breach. She mentioned that initially, the breach was small and could have been easily blocked, but due to inadequate measures taken by the authorities, it widened to over a hundred meters, leading to significant consequences for the local population. She reported that Tanzhou Township around Dongting Lake is entirely submerged, and the flooding escalated rapidly, leaving people with nowhere to escape.
Satellite imagery shows a continuous rise in the water level of Dongting Lake, with the water area expanding gradually over the past month and a half. According to the Ministry of Water Resources of the Communist Party of China, on June 17th, the water area of Dongting Lake was only 1100 square kilometers, whereas by June 30th, it had reached around 2570 square kilometers.
Following the collapse of the first-line levee in Tuanzhou Dike, often referred to as “the first danger in Hunan,” the authorities have reinforced the “second line of defense” between Tuanzhou Dike and Qiannan Dike with the Qiantuan interval dike. However, this 14.35-kilometer-long second line of defense is thinner than the first levee and is already strained.
The Qiantuan interval dike, located just 2 kilometers from the breach, spans between Tuanzhou Dike and Qiannan Dike, totaling 14.35 kilometers in length. Urgent reinforcement is required to prevent further flooding and protect neighboring areas. However, the Qiantuan interval dike is thinner and has not been utilized for flood control since 1996, raising concerns about its structural integrity.
As of the time of reporting, there is no confirmat…