As the second flood peak slowly passed Linhuaigang in Huoqiu County
where the largest water conservation project on the Huaihe River is
under construction, possibilities of dike explosion at the Jiangjia
Lake to divert the river's flood water is diminishing.
This was disclosed here Sunday by the Huoqiu Flood Control
Headquarters in east China's Anhui Province.
While the flood crest arrived at the county Saturday noon, water
level at Linhuaigang quickly rose to the record high of 27.07
meters by 6:00 p.m., imposing great pressure to the flood diversion
area at the Jiangjia Lake and embankment on the lower reaches of
the Huaihe River.
To
cope with the situation, the headquarters ordered an immediate
uplift of a sluice gate at the Donghu Lake, which has raised water
discharge from 1,200 cubic meters per second to 1,600cubic meters
and successfully contained water swelling by 8:00 p.m.
By
8:00 a.m. Sunday, the water level at Linhuaigang dropped from the
record high to 27.02 meters and the level on the mainstream section
between Wangjiaba and Zhengyangguan is also receding.
Headquarters chief Liu Liansheng said that the emergency move had
effectively weakened the pressure imposed by the flood peak ona
water conservation project under construction at Linhuaigang and
solidified the hope of securing the embankment at the Jiangjia
Lake.
Earlier, the headquarters had taken explosion of the dike at the
lake as an emergency measure to divert rising flood water if the
situation got worse.
Long submerged in water, the Jiangjia Lake embankment begun to leak
water. Thousands of workers and soldiers are reinforcing the dike
so that it may stand the test of an approaching flood peak.
(Xinhua News Agency July 13, 2003)
