Heavy rainfall floods Taihu Lake, triggering Level III response

Taihu Lake, China's third-largest freshwater lake, most of which is located in Jiangsu province, reported its first numbered flood of the year on Tuesday as heavy rainfall brought by Typhoon Dolphin pushed water levels above the warning mark, the Ministry of Water Resources said.

In China, a numbered flood is an officially designated flood event, issued when a key hydrological station reaches preset warning thresholds.

At 11:25 am on Tuesday, the lake's water level rose to 3.8 meters, reaching its warning threshold, the ministry said in a media release on Tuesday. 

The ministry's Taihu Basin Authority has activated a Level III response, the second-lowest in the country's four-tier national emergency response system for disaster relief. The authority has increased drainage through sluices and pumping stations, and lowered water levels in advance to expand flood storage capacity.