China intensifies quake rescue but hopes dim

DUJIANGYAN, China-China ordered fresh waves of helicopters and aid to earthquake-devastated areas as the sheer magnitude of caring for tens of thousands of homeless survivors threatened to overwhelm relief efforts.The Communist Party leadership told officials to "ensure social stability" as Monday's 7.9 magnitude quake in southwest Sichuan province spawned rumors of chemical spills, fears that dams could burst and torrid scenes of collective grief.The official death toll estimate from the Monday quake stood at 14,463. But as search teams sift, often bare-handed, through towns turned to rubble, that number is likely to balloon. And the strains from tens of thousands of homeless are growing.In Dujiangyan and other hard-hit cities and towns, many residents spent the night sleeping outside or in makeshift shelters, fearing more tremors and building collapses."In one minute the city we know flew away. I never dreamt it could happen,"said He Lixia,a teacher in Dujiangyan,where many people slept outdoorsRescuers there wrapped corpses dragged from the rubble in tarpaulins, and after allowing relatives to briefly mourn, sped them to morgues. They were so busy that a notice outside one collapsed school, where locals said nearly 300 children died, asked parents to go to search for missing children in shifts."Because there is a heavy work load at the morgue we have arranged first for the parents of years 1, 2, 3 students to go and then organize for the parents of year 4, 5, 6 students," it said.Wang Yujie, a teacher whose school withstood the quake, said getting more water was now residents' most immediate need.

To read more go to:

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSSP23973420080515

As in the days of Noah....