China blasts dam to release floodwaters as death toll rises

Authorities in central China blasted a dam Sunday to release surging waters behind it amid widespre flooding across country that has claimed scores of lives. State brocaster CCTV reported dam on Chuhe River in Anhui province was destroyed with explosives early Sunday morning, after which water level was expected to drop by 70 centimeters (more than 2 feet).Water levels on many rivers, including mighty Yangtze, have been unusually high this year because of torrential rains.

Blasting dams and embankments to discharge water was an extreme response employed during China’s worst floods in recent years in 1998, when more than 2,000 people died and almost 3 million homes were destroyed.Last week, gargantuan Three Gorges Dam on Yangtze opened three floodgates as water level behind massive dam rose more than 15 meters (50 feet) above flood level. Ar flood crest is expected to arrive at dam on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, soldiers and workers have been testing strength of embankments and shoring m up with sandbags and rocks. On Saturday, firefighters and ors finished filling in a 188-meter (620-foot) break on Poyang Lake, China’s largest freshwater lake, that h caused widespre flooding across 15 vills and agricultural fields in Jiangxi province. More than 14,000 people were evacuated.

Seasonal flooding strikes large parts of China annually, especially in its central and sourn regions, but has been especially severe this summer. More than 150 people have died or are missing in flooding and landslides brought on by torrential rains — 23 of m since Thursday alone.About 1.8 million people have been evacuated and direct losses attributed to flooding are estimated at more than 49 billion yuan ($7 billion), according to Ministry of Emergency Manment.Major cities have been spared so far, but concern has risen over Wuhan and or downstream metropolises that are home to tens of millions of people.

(Im Credit: AP)