As river embankments were breached in record downpours across Henan province, President Xi Jinping described the situation as “extremely severe” with flood control measures entering a “critical stage”, state media reported Wednesday.
The rainfall in the region was the heaviest since record-keeping began 60 years ago, coming as scientists say climate change is worsening flooding around the world, alongside other increasingly extreme weather patterns.
Nerve-shredding images shared on social media showed shocked passengers contending with the chest-high waters inside a train carriage. Rescuers cut open the roof of the coach to pull people to safety, local media reported.
Outside one road tunnel, AFP saw dozens of abandoned cars in rows, some half-submerged in water.
Relatives outside Zhengzhou made anxious pleas on China’s Weibo for information as communications to the city went down.
She said she has struggled to contact relatives or make mobile payments because of weak phone signal.
– Army sent –
The body for cultural heritage warned some key heritage sites had suffered water damage, including the Shaolin temple — a famous monastery and school for martial arts — and the Longmen Grottoes, a UNESCO heritage site of stone Buddhist carvings dating back to the fifth century.
The statement said “key protected cultural relics suffered varying degrees of water damage,” but said they were now safe, without providing precise details.
On Wednesday morning, the People’s Liberation Army said blasting operations had been carried out at the dam and troops had “successfully opened a new flood diversion opening”.
Thousands of soldiers have been deployed to other rivers nearby to reinforce embankments with sandbags as the floods fanned out across Henan and warnings were issued for other near breaches of dams.
“We have already entered the critical stage of flood control, leaders and cadres from all walks of life must… take the lead in commanding, quickly organise forces for flood protection and disaster rescue.”
But the threat has worsened over the decades, due in part to widespread construction of dams and levees that have cut connections between the river and adjacent lakes and disrupted floodplains that had helped absorb the summer surge. SOURCES: AFP/The Independent