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China Begins Repairs on Flood-Damaged Dikes

   VOA News 25 June 2010
   Chinese rescuers carry their boats in to evacuate residents in Fuzhou,
   Jiangxi province, 24 Jun 2010

Photo: AFP

   Chinese rescuers carry their boats in to evacuate residents in Fuzhou,
   Jiangxi province, 24 Jun 2010

   Emergency  teams in flood-ravaged southern China are working to repair
   damaged  dikes,  as  rising  water  threatens  the  capital  of  Hunan
   province, a city of six million people.
   More  than  50,000  people  have been evacuated from areas of Xiangtan
   County  near Changsha, the provincial capital.  The Xiangjiang River,
   a  branch of the Yangtze, has risen 2.5 meters above the danger level,
   and Chinese officials say the highest crest is still to come.
   Since  June 13, floods and mudslides caused by heavy rains have killed
   at least 211 people, and nearly 150 others are missing.
   Hundreds  of  emergency workers and soldiers spent Friday pouring sand
   and  rocks into two breaches in dikes along the Fuhe river near Fuzhou
   city  in  Jiangxi  province, where high water has forced about 100,000
   people to leave their homes on Friday.
   Chinese  authorities  say the floods have caused more than $10 billion
   in damages.
   Floods  are  an  annual  event  in southern and central China, but the
   problem  this  year  has  been much worse than normal.  As of Friday,
   authorities say floods in China have killed 377 people this year.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP.

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