City issues flood alert as quake lake drains

By Yang Jian  |   2008-6-10  |     ONLINE EDITION

A CITY downstream of the largest quake lake in Sichuan issued the second-highest flood alert this morning as water draining from the lake was moving quicker, Xinhua news agency reported today.

An artificial sluice has allowed water to draining from Tangjiashan lake as of Saturday, however, the flow of water increased this morning.

Mianyang City issued the orange alert at 10:55am today. If the alert is upgraded to red, all 600,000 residents would be ordered to evacuate, the report said.

The outflow of the lake has reached 9,780 cubic meters per second through the sluice channel as of noon, exceeding the safety level, Xinhua said.

A flood peak was expected to hit Mianyang at 3pm today, Xinhua said.

Relief work headquarters said the sluice was "under control" and called on residents not to panic.

More than 30 percent of land that may flood is unoccupied, headquarters said.

The city launched traffic restrictions on the Mianyang-Jiangyou Highway. Only vehicles from relief headquarters would be allowed to use the expressway, Xinhua said.

The city has begun to use reserve water supplies while the power supply was normal.

A Xinhua report said residents were rather calm.

An evacuation route has been planned. Relief headquarters said three evacuation maneuvers had been launched in the city. All residents can be evacuated to safe places within one hour, it said.

The water level was increasing in the city's river.

The water level of Tangjiashan lake dropped to 727.94 meters above sea level as of 2pm today, 21 meters lower than 10am today, the report said.

The lake would be safe if the level dropped to 720 meters. The level was expected to drop to the safe level at 3pm, Xinhua said.

Some landslides sparked by the drainage occurred along the channel, a CCTV report said. Another Xinhua report said "some cracks have appeared on the dam" because of the rapid water flow.