The army in the area warns that the Yihetan dam in Luoyang, a city of seven million inhabitants, “could collapse at any moment.”
In a statement, the army says that there is a crack of 20 meters in the dam. It has suffered severe damage in the storm that has ravaged Henan province since Monday and which, among other things, has led to flooding in the subway network.
Soldiers have been sent to the dam to carry out emergency work, including blasting and flood diversion, the army said late Tuesday night.
1300 missed after flood
Flood in million city
In the city of Zhengzhou, also in Henan province, at least one person has lost his life, two are missing and several houses have collapsed, according to the State People’s Daily. Local media have previously reported that two people died when a wall collapsed in another district of Zhengzhou, a city with around ten million inhabitants.
Videos on social media show entire neighborhoods with a water level of at least one meter and vehicles floating in the mud.
According to meteorologists in Zhengzhou, not much precipitation has been recorded here since the measurements began 60 years ago. At worst, there was 201.9 millimeters of rainfall per hour, according to state media Global Times.
RAIN: Cars are stuck during the floods caused by heavy rain in the million-strong city of Zhengzhou in central China on Tuesday. Photo: Chinatopix Via AP / NTB
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Saves passengers
Unverified photos online show passengers in a flooded subway car in central Zhengzhou. Some stand on the seats, while others cling to the handles since the water has reached shoulder height. At the same time, the state broadcaster CCTV shows images of water flushing through an empty underground platform.
The fire service announced earlier Tuesday that they are in the process of rescuing passengers from stuck trains. A passenger said that she and others were evacuated through a hole made by rescue crews on the roof of the train car.
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Danger warning
More than 10,000 residents of Henan Province have been evacuated, according to the Xinhua State News Agency. The province houses, among other things, the Buddhist Shaolin Temple, which is said to have been hit hard by the flood after the heavy rain that started on Monday.
Hundreds of flights have been canceled due to the storm, and meteorologists have issued the highest danger warning for Henan province.
According to the Global Times, more than 144,000 residents have been affected by heavy rainfall.
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Increased risk of flooding
China is regularly hit by floods during the summer months, and roads, crops and homes are destroyed by water bodies every year.
But urban growth and the redistribution of agricultural land have increased the cost of such incidents in recent decades. Large-scale construction of dams and dikes that have cut the connection between rivers and lakes, as well as eradicated river plains, are also said to have contributed to increasing the risk of flooding.
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