China battles heavy rain, dike breaches

CHANGSHA/SHENYANG, July 29 (Xinhua) -- China is currently battling heavy rainfall that has triggered dike breaches, flooded streets and forced the evacuation of people.

In the past two days, three dike breaches occurred in sections of the Juanshui River in Xiangtan County, central China's Hunan Province. One of them was successfully sealed on Monday afternoon.

The Juanshui flows into the Xiangjiang River, a major tributary of the Yangtze. In the wake of Typhoon Gaemi, some sections of the Juanshui experienced record-breaking floods.

Xinhua reporters rushed to Hekou Township after a dike breach measuring over 30 meters occurred around 1:40 p.m. on Monday. A large number of houses and crops were inundated. With helicopters hovering overhead, rescuers raced to search for and evacuate trapped residents.

"We are accelerating our search efforts to ensure that no one is left behind," said Huang Xi, a rescuer at the site.

Liu De'an, a 67-year-old local villager, was trapped by the rising floodwaters due to his limited mobility.

"I watched the water rise quickly, flooding the first floor of my house. I was terrified," he recalled. "Thankfully, they (the rescuers) arrived just in time and saved me."

Another dike breach took place around 8 p.m. Sunday in the section of Juanshui River in Yisuhe Township, with more than 3,800 residents evacuated as of Monday morning.

Over 1,200 people, including armed police, militia and professional rescuers, have been mobilized into rescue and relief work, assisted by more than 1,000 local officials and Party members, according to local flood control and drought relief headquarters.

Technologies such as drones, GPS measuring instruments, radar speed sensors, and unmanned hydrological surveying boats have been used to provide support for the closure of the breach and rescue operations.

Search and evacuation operations are still underway.

Torrential rains have also wreaked havoc in other parts of the country. From Friday to Sunday, the city of Dandong on the lower reaches of the Yalu River was lashed by heavy rain, causing 12 reservoirs and five rivers to exceed warning levels.

Xinhua reporters saw the Yalu River overflowing its banks on Monday night and flooding the main street in Dandong, Liaoning Province.

Yalu River Park, usually bustling with tourists, was submerged under nearly 2 meters of water.

Since July, Dandong has experienced seven episodes of heavy rain, accumulating a total of 486.5 millimeters of rainfall, 90 percent more than the historical average for this period over many years.

By 4 p.m. Monday, Dandong had relocated over 28,700 people. A total of 45 flood-control gates had been put in place by Sunday night.

China's meteorological authorities on Monday issued an orange alert for rainstorms, the second-highest level in its four-tier warning system, across parts of the country.

In southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, 19 districts and counties raised their emergency responses for floods on Monday afternoon, as the city is expected to be lashed by torrential rain from Monday night to Tuesday.