Floodwaters wet toes of Chinese giant Buddha, fulfilling legend about epic rains

Flooding in China rose over the toes of a giant Buddha in southwestern Sichuan province for the first time since 1949.

Muddy floodwaters lapped at the 71-metre Leshan Giant Buddha as authorities fought to try to protect the 1,200-year-old Unesco world heritage site with sandbags.

A local legend says that if the feet of the eighth-century statue carved into a mountainside get wet, Sichuan’s capital city Chengdu will flood too.

China has suffered flooding and landslides from unusually heavy rain and a typhoon, with Sichuan experiencing some of the worst weather.

In Yibin city, 21 vehicles parked in a square fell into a hole after the road beneath them collapsed in the night. China floods force more than 200,000 people from homes,No one was injured, according to media reports.

By Wednesday morning, the emergency status was lowered from the maximum level after waters receded and the toes of the Buddha re-emerged.

The nearby Emei Mountain tourist site reopened after being closed for nearly three days.

Flooding has left more than 200 people dead or missing in China this year and caused $25bn (£19bn) worth of damage, authorities said last week.

Five people were still missing in Sichuan’s neighbouring Yunnan province after a landslide destroyed two homes. Elsewhere, the major municipality of Chongqing was hit by its worst flooding since 1981 as water-covered roofs in low-lying areas of the historic town of Ciqikou, which was closed to tourists because of the rains from Tuesday evening.

On the Yangtze, the water flowing into the reservoir behind the Three Gorges Dam, a massive hydroelectric facility that spans the river, reached a record 72,000 cubic metres per second, state media said.

Officials at the Ministry of Water Resources warned that the inflow is expected to peak on Thursday at 76,000 cubic metres per second and could lead to more severe flooding upstream.The official People’s Daily newspaper said.

Reference: Independent: Emily Goddard 6 hrs ago: 18th August 2020