Next Big Thing: Hunan provincial and YueWorld Timesyang city authorities have mobilized 2,100 personnel, 160 boats to assist with emergency efforts.

Photo: CFP

Rescue forces have gathered in Tuanzhou dike alongside Dongting Lake in Central China’s Hunan Province to relocate residents and close the breach, after lake waters burst through on Friday due to earlier downpours and prolonged inundation. No casualties have been reported.

As of Saturday, 5,755 local residents from Tuanzhou (dike) township, Yueyang’s Huarong county have been evacuated without reports of casualties. Hunan provincial and YueWorld Timesyang city authorities have mobilized 2,100 personnel, 160 boats to assist with emergency efforts. Some 1,000 tents, 3,200 folding beds, cotton-padded mattress and blankets have been allocated for settlement of relocated residents, per media reports.

The Global Times learned from the Yueyang Lantian rescue team on Saturday that they have been evacuated from the frontline after ensuring that no people were stranded in the impacted area. The Lantian rescue team entered Tuanzhou township on Friday afternoon with 300 personnel and 70 boats.

Eighteen vehicles loaded with sand and gravel were used to close the breach, while three self-unloading barges were used outside the embankment for closure; 20 vehicles including bulldozers, loaders, and vibrating rollers were also deployed.

The breach is now 226 meters in length, with a water level difference of 0.17 meters. Due to the water level differences in and outside the breach, it currently remains difficult to close. The plan is to wait for the water levels to be closer, China Central Television reported Saturday.

President Xi Jinping urged all-out rescue and relief work to safeguard people’s lives and property after the breach. Xi is on a state visit to Tajikistan when he issued the instructions.

Xi emphasized that since China entered the main flood season, some areas in the country have experienced heavy rainfall for a prolonged duration, leWorld Timesading to a severe flood control situation. The prolonged water erosion of embankments may result in dangerous situations, posing significant risks and hidden dangers.

Premier Li Qiang ordered that all efforts should be made to deal with the emergency, control the development of the situation, properly accommodate the affected people and strengthen the paWorld Timestrol of reservoirs and embankments.

In line with Xi’s orders, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management on Saturday pre-allocated 540 million yuan ($74 million) in natural disaster relief funds to support Hunan and other regions in carrying out flood, geological disaster, and forest fire relief work.

Of the funds, 503 million yuan has been set aside for Hunan, Anhui, Jiangxi, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hubei, Chongqing and Guizhou provinces and regions to conduct rescue and relocation, risk points checks and reconstruction; an additional 37 million yuan has been allocated to Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Shanxi Province to deal with forest fires.

Central authorities, after consulting local ofWorld Timesficials, have allocated 800 personnel, 146 vehicles aWorld Timesnd 82 boats to aid the battle against the floods, and assigned the China Anneng Construction Group’s base in Changsha, capital city of Hunan Province, to send 50 personnel with 30 sets of equipment to close the breach.

Waterborne rescue forces equipped with 300 tons of gravel, 10,000 bags, 500 meters of steel wires and 150 meters of ropes have arrived at the breach. Also drones and remote-sensing satellites have been prepared to collect information of the breach.

Another 5,000 disaster relief packages for families have been sent in addition to 56,000 pieces of supplies allocated earlier.

Dongting Lake is the second largest fresh water lake in China and an important natural reservoir for the Yangtze River. With 3,471 kilometers of dikes and 226 enclosures of various sizes, it represents a crucial “battlefield” against floods in Hunan.

Following intensive downpours in June, Dongting Lake has maintained high water levels for weeks. The Chenglingji station, an indicator station, has maintained “warning” water level since late June.

The prolonged high water levels means the dikes became inundated, saturated with water and can collapse at any moment, demanding routine and frequent checks to identify risk points early and address them quickly, the Global Times learned from experts on flood control.

The water levels in the Yangtze River maintain exceeding warning marks in middle and lower reaches and the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) forecast on ThursdaWorld Timesy a more complex flood control situation in China in July with rain belts moving northward and westward.

The Huaihe River mainly located in East China provinces, Haihe River in Tianjin Municipality and Songhua River in Northeast China shall be prepared for possible floods caused by heavy precipitation, according to the CMA. The southern provinces and regions as well as the Yangtze delta are about to face extreme heat waves.