This July 18, 2020 photo shows the Three Gorges Dam opening the floodgates to discharge the floodwater on the Yangtze River in central China's Hubei province. (ZHENG JIAYU / XINHUA)

WUHAN/HEFEI/CHONGQING —The Three Gorges reservoir in central China's Hubei province has seen the second flood along the Yangtze River in 2020, the largest one arriving at the reservoir so far this year. 

Three lower floodgates of the Three Gorges Dam opened to discharge the floodwater ]Saturday, with various parameters of the dam at safety levels

As of 8 am on Saturday, the inbound flow of water reached 61,000 cubic meters per second while the outbound flow was 33,000 cubic meters per second, with 45 percent of floodwater withheld in the reservoir, according to the China Three Gorges Corporation. 

Three lower floodgates of the Three Gorges Dam opened to discharge the floodwater on Saturday morning, with various parameters of the dam at safety levels. 

After withholding rounds of floodwaters, the water level of the reservoir has reached 160.17 meters, more than 15 meters higher than the flood limit level. 

Floods have also affected many provinces along the Yangtze River. 

East China's Anhui province activated a Level I emergency response for flood control at 6:00 pm Saturday, the highest in a four-tier emergency response system, due to the grim flood situation. 

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At present, both the mainstream of the Yangtze River in Anhui and the Wangjiaba hydrologic station of the Huaihe River have seen water exceeding warning levels. 

Anhui is forecast to see two more rounds of heavy rains in the coming days. 

As of 11 am on Friday, heavy rain had affected 11 cities and more than 3 million people in the province. 

Residents evacuated in Chongqing 

A new round of torrential rain in southwest Chongqing Municipality has left 11 dead and forced 21,500 residents to evacuate, authorities said on Saturday. 

Some 550,000 residents in 31 districts or counties have been affected since rainstorms started battering the municipality on Tuesday, said the flood control and drought relief headquarters of the city in a statement. 

Some 23,000 hectares of crops were damaged and over 1,000 houses were destroyed, said the statement. 

Days of torrential rains have raised water levels of the Yangtze and Wujiang rivers. The water level at a hydrological station along Wujiang, a major tributary of the Yangtze River, rose by 5.55 meters to 225.03 meters, exceeding the alert level early Saturday. 

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Water levels of minor rivers and streams in the eastern part of Chongqing are expected to rise further. 

This year's second flood of the Yangtze River on Saturday morning passed through the city proper section of Chongqing, with the highest water level approaching the alert mark. 

In Ciqikou, an ancient town located on the banks of the Jialing River, some shops in the low-lying areas were inundated on Saturday morning.  

Zhao Jiaping, director of the emergency management office of the town, said residents and tenants had been notified to prepare for evacuation. 

Shipping services along several sections of the Yangtze River were also restricted from Friday.