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Accidents and disasters in China
China

Race to remedy Dongting Lake flood wall as southwest China braces for more rain

  • More than 90 metres of breached embankment fortified as of Sunday afternoon, aided by drop in water levels within lake and sunnier weather

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Repair teams at work at the breached dyke in Dongting Lake, in China’s central Hunan province. Photo: Xinhua
Victoria Bela
Emergency work is under way to close a dyke breach caused by flooding at China’s second-biggest freshwater lake, with Beijing pledging millions in relief for provinces hit by weeks of torrential rain, landslides and other natural disasters.

By 5pm on Sunday, emergency workers had used gravel, stone and other materials to block more than 90 metres (295 feet) of a breach on the embankment of Dongting Lake in Hunan province, according to local media.

The breach in the Tuanzhou embankment had widened from an initial 10 metres early on Friday to around 225 metres by Saturday afternoon, flooding a 46 sq km (17.7 square mile) area, according to a report by media outlet The Paper.

Emergency workers race to close a breach in an embankment in Dongting Lake, Hunan province, on Saturday. Photo: Xinhua
Emergency workers race to close a breach in an embankment in Dongting Lake, Hunan province, on Saturday. Photo: Xinhua

As of midnight on Sunday, work to block the breach was progressing at an average rate of 4 metres per hour, it said.

Hunan vice-governor Zhang Yingchun said the work was expected to be completed by noon on Tuesday, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Hunan Daily reported that, as of Sunday morning, a drop in water levels at Dongting was allowing water that had built up at the breach site to start flowing back into the lake.

The drop in water levels inside the breached area, along with sunny weather, had made the conditions favourable for the recovery work, it said.

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