Devastating floods leave 300,000 without water
Source: Xinhua |
August 3, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Torrential rain damaged water pipelines leaving 300,000 people without tap water for two days in Tonghua, an industrial city in northeast China's Jilin Province, officials said yesterday.
More than 300 workers had been mobilized to restore the water supply, said Wang Ruimin, head of the public utility bureau in Tonghua. But he gave no deadline as to when supplies would resume.
Residents relied largely on bottled water over the past 48 hours and authorities ordered 25 fire trucks to deliver water for domestic purposes, aside from drinking, to residential communities from 5am to 8pm every day.
About 1,700 tons of water had been delivered this way, officials said yesterday.
Floodwater has gushed into Tonghua's water plant at the Changliu Reservoir after a section of the embankment was breached on Saturday. Four water pipelines had been damaged since Sunday, cutting supplies to the whole city, Wang said.
City authorities were working to ensure adequate supplies of bottled water and vowed to crack down on price manipulation.
Floods and rain-triggered landslides have left more than 100 people dead or missing in Jilin Province over the past week, provincial civil affairs officials said yesterday.
It is the latest province to be plagued by floods, after torrential rain had lashed the area since last Wednesday.
About 37,000 houses collapsed and 125,000 others were damaged while 592,000 residents were evacuated, the provincial civil affairs department said.
Water supply disruptions were also reported in the cities of Baishan, Huadian and Antu County in the Korean Autonomous Prefecture of Yanbian.
Vegetable supplies in Baishan were limited after farm produce had been damaged in the floods.
In Antu County, many townships suffered blackouts after floods damaged power facilities.
The extent of destruction became clearer yesterday as rescuers and reporters reached the province's worst-hit areas.
In Huadian City, near Songhua Lake, some 14,100 inhabitants of five villages lost their homes when a reservoir burst. About 4 million cubic meters of water had gushed out of the Dahe Reservoir on July 28, local officials said.
Part of Dahe, the village closest to the reservoir, was obliterated, reduced to a rock-dotted riverbank. Houses were washed away and crops completely destroyed.
"I still remember the roar of the flood when it hit the village. It still haunts me," said villager Wang Chunliang.
Officials said more than 20 villagers died in the flood.
In Huadian, 46 people were dead or missing as of Sunday.
About 23 bridges in Antu collapsed or were rendered dangerous by the floods. Towns were isolated for days as transport links had been severed. Rescuers yesterday struggled for hours to get around mountains to reach the town of Liangjiang.
But authorities said the worst might not be over as heavy rains are forecast to pound the flooded areas from today to Friday. Authorities warned of landslides and mud flows in the southern part of the province.
In Dandong City, in neighboring Liaoning Province, rains disrupted water supplies to more than 12,000 households. Torrential rain made the Yalu River, the main water source, too polluted to purify.
The authorities have cut supplies and arranged deliveries by fire trucks.
Also in Liaoning, 72,000 people were evacuated from Fushun City.
More than 300 workers had been mobilized to restore the water supply, said Wang Ruimin, head of the public utility bureau in Tonghua. But he gave no deadline as to when supplies would resume.
Residents relied largely on bottled water over the past 48 hours and authorities ordered 25 fire trucks to deliver water for domestic purposes, aside from drinking, to residential communities from 5am to 8pm every day.
About 1,700 tons of water had been delivered this way, officials said yesterday.
Floodwater has gushed into Tonghua's water plant at the Changliu Reservoir after a section of the embankment was breached on Saturday. Four water pipelines had been damaged since Sunday, cutting supplies to the whole city, Wang said.
City authorities were working to ensure adequate supplies of bottled water and vowed to crack down on price manipulation.
Floods and rain-triggered landslides have left more than 100 people dead or missing in Jilin Province over the past week, provincial civil affairs officials said yesterday.
It is the latest province to be plagued by floods, after torrential rain had lashed the area since last Wednesday.
About 37,000 houses collapsed and 125,000 others were damaged while 592,000 residents were evacuated, the provincial civil affairs department said.
Water supply disruptions were also reported in the cities of Baishan, Huadian and Antu County in the Korean Autonomous Prefecture of Yanbian.
Vegetable supplies in Baishan were limited after farm produce had been damaged in the floods.
In Antu County, many townships suffered blackouts after floods damaged power facilities.
The extent of destruction became clearer yesterday as rescuers and reporters reached the province's worst-hit areas.
In Huadian City, near Songhua Lake, some 14,100 inhabitants of five villages lost their homes when a reservoir burst. About 4 million cubic meters of water had gushed out of the Dahe Reservoir on July 28, local officials said.
Part of Dahe, the village closest to the reservoir, was obliterated, reduced to a rock-dotted riverbank. Houses were washed away and crops completely destroyed.
"I still remember the roar of the flood when it hit the village. It still haunts me," said villager Wang Chunliang.
Officials said more than 20 villagers died in the flood.
In Huadian, 46 people were dead or missing as of Sunday.
About 23 bridges in Antu collapsed or were rendered dangerous by the floods. Towns were isolated for days as transport links had been severed. Rescuers yesterday struggled for hours to get around mountains to reach the town of Liangjiang.
But authorities said the worst might not be over as heavy rains are forecast to pound the flooded areas from today to Friday. Authorities warned of landslides and mud flows in the southern part of the province.
In Dandong City, in neighboring Liaoning Province, rains disrupted water supplies to more than 12,000 households. Torrential rain made the Yalu River, the main water source, too polluted to purify.
The authorities have cut supplies and arranged deliveries by fire trucks.
Also in Liaoning, 72,000 people were evacuated from Fushun City.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
