Flood Wreaks Havoc on China

As of the 25th, the water level in Dungting Lake in the Yangtze River lowered 3 cm from the previous day, but still remains in dangerous level. As torrential rain is expected for the next 3 days until the 27th in the upper stream of the Yangtze River, the concerns for flood have escalated.

The authorities said that the water level in Dungting Lake recorded 34.88m, exceeding the dangerous level on the 24th, but the level lowered on the 25th by 3 cm. The authorities, however, said that as the meteorological office forecast more rain, concerns remain over the collapse of the embankment in Dungting Lake.

The authorities also said that if torrential rain rips through the regions around the River`s upper stream, and rainwater from the regions flows into the River, the water level in the Lake would go up, making the situation worse.

Earlier the state-owned Sinhwa New Agency reported that the state of emergency was issued in the regions surrounding Dungting Lake on the 24th for the first time since the 1998 deluge, and 600,000 residents were evacuated.

The report also said that if the embankment of the Lake collapses, 10 million residents would be dislocated and that 339 villages were already inundated because of continued torrential rain starting from the 11th.

The authorities are monitoring the condition of the embankment of Dungting Lake around the clock. About 1 million voluntary workers including soldiers have been brought in to reinforce the embankment.

yshwang@donga.com