China Water: June 10, 2008: Quake lake drained, second story.

Hmmmmm, compare this with the last story. And what's especially fascinating is that the two stories are from the same news agency. Hmmmmm.

As they say, there's events and there's news reports of the events and there's an overlap between the two but the correspondence is not exact. (I'm not sure who exactly says that, but someone somewhere must say it for sure.)

So the quake lake was drained. Some places were destroyed, but not as many places were destroyed as might have been.


http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=782365


Quake lake floods Chinese town
AFP Published:Jun 10, 2008

BEICHUAN, China - Muddy, brown water from a quake lake in southwest China was pouring into the flattened town of Beichuan today, piling new woes on its tormented population.

# China ‘quake lake’ still rising

# China to dynamite ‘quake lake’

Surging rapids from Tangjiashan lake gushed into the centre of Beichuan and spilled down the side streets, as locals watched from ridges surrounding the town.

"It’s really hard for me to take, our city was so good and beautiful but now there’s nothing left. My heart aches," said Zhu Yunyou, a 54-year-old farmer who lost his house in the May 12 earthquake.

The Tangjiashan lake, created when landslides blocked a river in mountainous Sichuan province during last month’s quake, has emerged as one of the main challenges in post-disaster relief efforts.

Endeavours to divert water from the lake have been crowned with some initial success, but the stakes remain high.

Authorities have warned that more than a million people could be at risk if the unstable dam bursts its banks, and more than 250,000 in most imminent danger have already been evacuated.

Beichuan was one of the areas worst-hit by the quake, with most buildings either destroyed or badly damaged.

All former residents have been evacuated from the town, which according to the government will not likely be rebuilt.

A police checkpoint on the outskirts of Beichuan did not let anyone into the town today.

"It’s for your own safety because of the flood risk," a police officer at the checkpoint said.

Near the checkpoint, backhoes were clearing away the debris of destroyed houses.

The May earthquake was the worst natural disaster to hit China in a generation, killing 69,142 people and leaving 17,551 others missing, according to the latest official toll.