Fearing Floods, China Rushes to Evacuate 150,000

SHANGHAI-The Chinese authorities are evacuating 150,000 people threatened by possible flooding from a lake in southwest China formed by landslides following this month’s earthquake, and military engineers struggled Tuesday to dig sluiceways to drain the water safely.The landslides dammed a major river in Tangjiashan, just north of Beichuan, one of the towns hardest hit by the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan Province. Relief officials have ordered the immediate evacuation of those in the region whose towns would be swept away if the dam burst.Parts of western Sichuan Province have seen heavy rains in recent days, causing water levels to rise fast on the dammed river.With roads throughout the area destroyed, army teams dropped earthmoving equipment close to the lake by helicopter, and have been ordered to work around the clock to create sluiceways.As fears about flooding intensified, the earthquake zone was struck by another powerful aftershock on Tuesday. Scientists said the earthquake registered a magnitude of 5.4. Hundreds of miles away and 30 minutes later, a 5.7-magnitude tremor was registered in Shaanxi Province. Chinese state media said that more than 420,000 houses were destroyed by the two aftershocks, The Associated Press reported, but it was unclear whether the homes were still inhabited.Meanwhile, the official death toll from the May 12 earthquake rose again to 67,183. More than 20,000 people remain missing.On Sunday, another powerful aftershock struck northern Sichuan Province. The aftershock, with an estimated magnitude of 6.0, killed at least eight people, injured more than 400 and toppled 70,000 buildings in the mountains to the north of Chengdu, the provincial capital, according to the government.The aftershocks have renewed the terror for millions of earthquake survivors who are living in tent camps, subsisting on instant noodles and waiting for the earth to stop shaking.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/world/asia/28china.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin
As in the days of Noah...