Chongqing's Qijiang River to see largest flooding since 1940

Due to heavy rainfall in recent days, the Qijiang River's Chongqing section on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River on Monday will see the largest flooding since 1940, according to Chongqing authorities.

The Chongqing hydrological monitoring station issued a red flood alert at noon on Monday warning that the Qijiang River will see flooding in eight hours and the highest water level at Wucha Station on the river will surpass the safe level - 201.51 meters - by 5.7 to 6.3 meters.

This is the first time the Chongqing monitoring station has issued a red alert, the highest level of flood warning on the Qijiang River, since the station was built in 1940.

The local government has evacuated over 40,000 residents near the river and no casualties have been reported so far, according to the Qijiang district's Publicity Department.

Chongqing in Southwest China, surrounded by the Yangtze and Jialing rivers, upgraded its emergency response to the flood from level to IV to level III on Monday afternoon.