Floods due to the overflow of the Yangtze River in China, have forced local authorities to evacuate more than 100,000 people.
This flood also threatens a world heritage site that is 1,200 years old.
As reported by Reuters on Wednesday (19 August 020), staff, police, and volunteers used sandbags to protect the 71-meter-high Leshan Giant Buddha statue in Sichuan Province.
The statue is designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The muddy floodwaters began to soak the foot of the giant statue.
China’s national television, CCTV, reported that flooding at the World Heritage site was the first time since 1949.
Sichuan Province, whose territory the Yangtze River flows, raised the emergency response to the maximum level.
The government agency that oversees the Yangtze River set a red alert warning on Tuesday (18 August) evening.
The warning stated that the water level at several monitoring posts had exceeded the safe level, which is above 5 meters.
