HUARONG: Emergency crews are going all out in repair and relief operations after the dike breach in Dongting Lake, China’s second-largest freshwater lake, in central China’s Hunan Province.
According to a report from China Central Television (CCTV), due to heavy rainfall, a dike at Dongting Lake breached at 17:48 on Friday despite unsuccessful emergency repair attempts in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City. This breach resulted in flooding in the nearby low-lying areas.
Initially, the breach was 10 metres wide on Friday, but it expanded to 226 meters by 11:00 on Saturday, with a water level difference of 0.1 meters.
Taking advantage of favourable conditions on Sunday, including good weather, less water from the upper reaches, and slower water flow, emergency forces advanced from both sides of the breach to speed up the gap-sealing progress.
On Saturday evening, a working group from the Ministry of Water Resources rushed to the disaster site, evaluated overall conditions overnight, and co
nsulted with local governments and relevant departments to deploy emergency repair operations.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Emergency Management deployed laser radar drones for on-site mapping, while the working group from the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters continued to coordinate various on-site forces and formulate technical plans.
“The combination of land and water operations can increase the working area, greatly improving the sealing efficiency and speeding up the closure progress. At present, the overall progress is basically in line with expectations,” said Deng Minghua, deputy director of the Dongting Lake water conservancy affairs center under the Hunan Provincial Department of Water Resources.
Meanwhile, each resettlement site across the county are equipped with sufficient daily necessities, cooling facilities, and professional medical teams for the relocated people.
“We have carried out drinking water testing, environmental disinfection, and food safety testing. At the same t
ime, our provincial medical team is also conducting inspections to ensure pregnant and postpartum patients can be transferred to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment in a timely manner,” said Li Xiaojun, secretary of the Party Committee of the Hunan Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration also allocated additional central government emergency rescue supplies to support Hunan Province in its flood prevention and rescue operations.
Source: Emirates News Agency
