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September 30, 2010

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Soldiers race to clear typhoon debris

A thousand Chinese soldiers are racing against the clock to clear rivers of garbage, logs and animal carcasses left by typhoon Fanapi.

The debris is threatening the safety of the drinking water supply for 7 million residents in Maoming, a city in the southern Guangdong Province.

Fanapi struck Guangdong more than a week ago, leaving tons of debris in the rivers that flow into the reservoir at Gaozhou, a city under jurisdiction of Maoming. The reservoir is a key drinking water source for Maoming.

Temperatures in Gaozhou climbed to 30 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, causing the debris to decay more quickly.

Zhao Liang, a soldier involved in the clean-up, said when troops arrived on Sunday they were met by a mass of debris more than 300 meters wide and stretching over 4 kilometers on the upper reaches of Gaozhou Reservoir.

"We hope we can finish clearing the floating garbage by Thursday," said an officer surnamed Xu. "We are working day and night."

 

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