Yangtze’s Crest Spares a City, Moves On

The major Chinese city of Wuhan escaped flooding Tuesday as the swollen Yangtze River receded, but authorities downstream braced as high water raced toward them.

The flood crest of the Yangtze had passed through Wuhan by midday Tuesday, reducing pressure on flood dikes, according to the Yangtze River Water Resources Committee. The agency’s headquarters are in Wuhan, a city of 7 million people.

Downstream, the river was near danger levels on dikes protecting Jiujiang, a city of 600,000 in Jiangxi province, local authorities said. Officials there urged people not to be “blindly optimistic,” the official New China News Agency said.

“The city government has issued two urgent notices calling on every county and city along rivers or lakes to overcome indifference and a sense of good luck,” the agency said.

Nearly 1,000 people have been reported killed in flooding or landslides since China’s rainy season began in June.

Meanwhile, in India’s northeastern state of Bihar, hundreds of villagers fled their homes as rivers breached their banks.

Water levels in the Gandak and Ganges rivers surged after authorities in neighboring Nepal released large amounts of water from the Balmikinagar Dam, which was threatening to overflow.

The torrent flooded villages in Gopalganj district, 95 miles north of Patna, the state capital, the Central Water Commission’s daily flood bulletin said.

The death toll from monsoon floods and waterborne diseases in Bihar has risen to 352, said Alok Ranjan, a senior relief official.