Yellow River inner dikes gaping with 86,000 under siege

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, October 05, 2003

Yellow River inner dikes gaping with 86,000 under siege

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Dysfunctional inner dikes of the Yellow River along the Lankao county section in central China's Henan province have been slitted by several breaches, with floodwater surging downward, posing an imminent threat to more than 86,000 local people in its lower reaches in eastern Shangdong province.

Liu Xueshan, deputy head of Dongming county in Shandong, said the inner dikes in Lankao county of the neighboring Henan "are no longer able to hold up the floodwater, which is overflowing the river's inner dikes toward nearby shoal areas at the lower reaches."

Three slits along the river, one 200 meters long and two others 100 meters long, are gushing and spurting out water to inundate plain areas in western Shandong, endangering the life of over 86,000 locals in 127 villages and submerging 10,800 ha of cropland, he said.

The main riverway is discharging 2,500 cubic meters of floodwater per second easternward toward the river's mouth at the moment.

As the only three roads to outside have been cut off by the surging floodwater, the affected areas are facing the increasing difficulty in evacuating most of local residents, said Yuan Min, director of Disaster Mitigation and Relief Office of Civil Affairs Bureau in Heze city, where Dongming county is located.

Of all the people under siege, only 5,593 have been transferred, mostly the elderly, sick and handicapped and children, he said. Those who have relatives to turn to, have been moved to nearby counties by boats and the remaining are staying on higher grounds or terraces, and even on rooftops.

According to deputy county head Liu Xueshan, the floodwater has risen as high as the levee of the Yellow River and the bottom of the water in the flooded plain reached up to 3.5 meters.

"Seventeen flood fighting teams are working around the clock on the levees and 56,000 people have been organized to help ship locals and reinforce the high platforms," he said.

According to the civil affairs department in Heze city, Heze Prefecture and Dongmin county have collected a fund of more than 600,000 yuan (about 72,300 US dollars) and given out 400,000 yuan (48.2 thousand US dollars) as emergency money.

"Every household is provided with four pieces of briquette to cook," according to the official.

As an emergency relief effort, the local government has put up 405 temporary tents for local flood victims, granted them 15 tons of wheat flour, 5,000 boxes of instant noodles, 8,000 bottles of mineral water, 2,000 pieces of clothing and cotton-padded quilts, 6,000 meters of plastic sheets and 10 tons of diesel oil.

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