Hundreds of soldiers and police are rushing to prevent an overfilled reservoir from bursting and flooding Golmud, a city of more than 200 thousand people in northwest China.

Days of heavy rainfall and melted snow has caused torrents of water to gush into the Wenquan reservoir. It now contains nearly 13 percent more water than its record high and is threatening to inundate the city of Golmud, 130 kilometers away.

More than 10 thousand residents have already been evacuated to safety. Soldiers are working around the clock to dig a channel to relieve pressure on the reservoir, along with two other existing ones. More rains are forecast for the area in the coming days, which could also cause rivers to overflow.