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Dams strained as rains continue in NE China

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Continuous rains in northeast China's Jilin Province are raising pressures on already strained reservoirs, many of which have had to discharge water or risk embankment breaches.

A picture taken on August 5, 2010 shows Fengman Reservoir, the largest reservoir on the Songhua River in Jilin Province. [Xinhua]

Rainfall reached 204 mm over the previous 24 hours as of 8 a.m. Thursday in central Jilin, the provincial meteorological station said.

Rainstorms began to pour in Gongzhuling City and Lishu County at 2 p.m. Thursday, with the highest rainfall reaching 121 mm in Lishu, according to the station.

Constant rains had forced seven of the 25 medium and large reservoirs in Jilin City, including Fengman, Baishan and Xingxingshao, to discharge water, and their levels were falling, according to Jilin municipal government.

At Fengman Reservoir, the largest reservoir on the Songhua River, the speed of the discharge had reached 4,500 cubic meters per second, according to the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.

Thousands of people had been deployed to watch embankments and dams, and a 24-hour monitoring system had been set up to ensure the safety of reservoirs, said Wang Rulin, governor of Jilin Province.

In Liuhe County, Tonghua City, 15,702 residents had been evacuated to 10 safe locations as the county braced for the second wave of floods, according to the county's flood control headquarters.

In Linjiang City which borders the Democratic People's Republic of Korea along the Yalu River, three townships had been cut off by rain-triggered floods and mudflows, and 38,000 residents were relocated from other parts of the city as more torrential rains were forecast for the next two days, said Yin Xiangmei, deputy mayor of the city.

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