The Yangtze River reached flood stage in its upper reaches for the first time this year on Friday because of heavy rainfall, but the Three Gorges Dam has captured the flow and mitigated flooding downstream, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Head-quarters.

Heavy rains will linger in southern and southwestern regions, affecting the Yangtze and Huaihe rivers until Monday, it said.

Three Gorges Dam, in Yichang, Hubei province, experienced peak inflows of 50,000 cubic meters per second at 2 pm Friday, marking the first flood coming in the Yangtze River in 2016, the flood control headquarters said. But the dam was able to capture much of the water and cut outflow to 31,000 cubic meters per second.