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China Races to Clear Quake-Dammed Rivers

Rainy season threatens to compound damage

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted May 26, 2008 12:45 PM CDT
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(Newser) – China is struggling to clear rivers and lakes dammed with earthquake debris before the impending rainy season worsens flooding, the AP reports. In Beichuan county, 1,800 soldiers arrived today, each bearing 22 pounds of explosives to blast obstructions impeding access to a nearby lake, and helicopters are airlifting heavy equipment. But thunderstorms could strike the region today and tomorrow.

Dozens of lakes in Sichuan province are backed up, worsening the situation in already quake-hit regions. “The water was covering the road, and two days later I could not see the roof of my house anymore,” said one resident. “I have nothing now. My village, it's all become a sea.” And near Wolong, researchers reported the capture of one of the two remaining missing pandas.

A Mig-26 helicopter swings an excavator to the quake lake in Tangjiashan, Beichuan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province Monday, May 26, 2008.
A Mig-26 helicopter swings an excavator to the quake lake in Tangjiashan, Beichuan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province Monday, May 26, 2008.   (AP Photo/Xinhua, Zhu Wei)
In these satellite images on May 14, 2006, left, and May 22, 2008, released by Taiwan's National Space Organisation (NSPO), a river pass in Beichuan County, in China's southwest Sichuan Province, one of the areas worst hit by the May 12, 2008 massive quake.
In these satellite images on May 14, 2006, left, and May 22, 2008, released by Taiwan's National Space Organisation (NSPO), a river pass in Beichuan County, in China's southwest Sichuan Province, one...   (AP Photo/National Space Orgnisation, HO)
A power station is soaked by water due to the ascending water level of the Kuzhu dam in Beichuan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province Thursday, May 22, 2008.
A power station is soaked by water due to the ascending water level of the Kuzhu dam in Beichuan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province Thursday, May 22, 2008.   (AP Photo/Xinhua, Wang Jianmin)
Quake lakes formed after the May 12 earthquake in Beichuan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province Thursday, May 22, 2008.
Quake lakes formed after the May 12 earthquake in Beichuan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province Thursday, May 22, 2008.   (AP Photo/Xinhua, Wang Jianmin)
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Fears mount over "quake lakes"
AFP

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Xinhua (China)

 
China • flooding • one child policy • Sichuan province • China earthquake

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