Flood waters disrupt river dike blasting plan
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The plan to demolish the leaking dike of a river in east China was suspended Tuesday after torrential waters broke blasting wires.
Armed police participating in the operation in Tongcheng City of Anhui Province had planned to blast a leaking dike at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday on a swollen branch of the Yangtze to prevent flood water from inundating villages.
However, water levels quickly rose in the afternoon and tore through wires connecting explosives prepared for demolishing the Qingcao Township Dike with a 200-meter-long breach on the Dasha River.
More than 1,000 residents along the river had been evacuated prior to the operation.
Authorities said they plan to repair the wires after the waters recede while reconsidering whether to conduct the blasting operation.
Meteorological authorities have forecast another round of heavy rains in the area over the next three days, which has stymied flood-control efforts.
The decision to explode the dike was made by the local disaster relief headquarters after officials called in experts, army officials and engineers for a meeting in Tongcheng Tuesday to consider the options.
Continuous downpours have killed two people and disrupted the lives of more than 4 million residents in Anhui, as of Tuesday noon.
More than 5,100 houses toppled and some 17,700 other were damaged amid heavy rains, which incurred more than 1.8 billion yuan (265.5 million U.S. dollars) in economic losses, according to the provincial disaster relief office.
Further, the provincial government has allocated 8 million yuan to ensure for the basic needs of the flood-hit population.
In Chizhou, one of the worst-hit cities in Anhui, water levels in 282 reservoirs, about 70 percent of all reservoirs in the city, have exceeded warning lines due to heavy rainfalls. Workers are now trying to fix four reservoirs that suffered landslides, spillway collapses or other minor damages.
In Huaining County of Anqing City, workers are continuing to strengthen some 60 potential breaches on the Hexi dike, along which about 180,000 people reside.
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