Photo taken on July 5, 2018 shows water discharging from the Three Gorges Dam, a gigantic hydropower project on the Yangtze River, in central China's Hubei Province. (File photo: Xinhua)

The Yangtze River is bracing for the first flood of the season, as rainstorms continue to batter the southern part of China.

A blue flood alert has been issued on Thursday for three sections along China’s longest river in Southwest China’s Guizhou Province, Three Gorges Dam and Central China’s Hunan Province, urging precautions from the rising water levels and possible damage. 

A blue alert is the lowest level of China’s four-tier color-coded flood warning system.

The warning came after the Three Gorges Dam observed a sharp influx of water of up to 50,000 cubic meters per second around 10 am Thursday, marking a flood has formed on the upstream of China’s longest river.

China’s national observatory has issued alerts 31 days in a row for its southern areas, which encountered the longest and most powerful rainy season since June. At least 148 rivers across the country reported floods.