WITH a breathtaking show of force, the world's most powerful dam has launched into full operation.

Amazing images show the last of the 32 generators at the Three Gorges Dam in China being switched on, roaring into action just as the biggest flood peak since 1981 hit the area.



Built on the Yangtze River in the Hubei Province, the dam is the world’s largest hydropower project and generates the same power as fifteen nuclear reactors.

Water gushed into the dam’s reservoir at 71, 200 cubic metres per second as it battled to take the edge of a fierce flood.

The project also set a record for the number of people displaced - more than 1.2 million, and the number of towns flooded - 13 cities, 140 towns, 1350 villages.