3rd Chinese dam collapses in last few days due to heavy rains

[Apollonian]

Dam Near China's Flooded Zhenghou City Collapses, Third In Last 48 Hours​

by Tyler Durden
Tuesday, Jul 20, 2021 - 09:45 PM

Link: https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/d...d-zhenghou-city-collapses-third-last-48-hours

A dam near the city of Zhengzhou in central China's Henan province has been destroyed by heavy flooding, after being seriously damaged in heavy storms that killed several people and brought the region to a halt, local media reported.

NEW - China floods: 10 videos show distressing scenes from Zhengzhou, Henan https://t.co/NB1ijVQROn

- Chinese army deployed to help
- At least 12 people dead
- More than 10,000 evacuated
- Yihetan dam in center of country "could collapse anytime"pic.twitter.com/leiLJEfU2r
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) July 20, 2021

The dam is the third to fail in recent days: over the weekend, due to severe rain, two dams in Hulun Buir City in North China's Inner Mongolia collapsed. Fortunately, however, no injuries have been reported.

Two dams in Hulun Buir City in North China’s Inner Mongolia were reported to have collapsed on Sunday because of heavy rain since Saturday. No injuries have been reported.https://t.co/jI6pUO5k6F pic.twitter.com/CLEQ6fN0L5
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) July 19, 2021

Dramatic collapse of Xinfa embankment dam in northern #China due to overtopping that happened yesterday. Note how quickly dam is washed away! This is despite the dam has a large-capacity chute-type spillway and a bottom outlet which acts as an emergency spillway. See photo below. pic.twitter.com/sQLdfTvPAw
— Dr Mohammad Heidarzadeh (@Mo_Heidarzadeh) July 19, 2021

According to Xinhua News Agency, the meteorological bureaus of Henan and Zhengzhou have raised the level of emergency response to meteorological disasters to the first level. The Chinese media report that the subway in Zhengzhou was flooded, and rescuers evacuated blocked passengers.

Subway passengers trapped in the water. pic.twitter.com/IyqmKN7WEr
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) July 20, 2021

The Chinese army warned that a stricken dam in the centre of the country "could collapse at any time" after being severely damaged in torrential storms that killed at least three people and brought the region to a standstill. Weather authorities also issued the highest warning level for central Henan province as downpours caused widespread disruption and the evacuation of residents of flooded streets.

On Tuesday evening the regional unit of the People's Liberation Army warned that the relentless downpour had caused a 20-meter breach in the Yihetan dam in Luoyang -- a city of around seven million people -- with the risk that it "may collapse at any time."

This aerial photo taken on July 19, 2020 shows water released from the Xiaolangdi Reservoir Dam in Luoyang in central China's Henan Province.

The PLA's Central Theater Command said it had sent soldiers to carry out an emergency response including blasting and flood diversion.

"On July 20, a 20-meter breach occurred at the Yihetan dam ....the riverbank was severely damaged and the dam may collapse at any time," it said in the statement according France 24.

Earlier in the day, state media also reported that the army sent about 20,000 personnel to carry out emergency work to preserve the integrity of the dams.

More than 20,000 soldiers and armed policemen are working on the dams of the Yellow River and Changzhuang Reservoir to prevent river burst. Water level is decreasing now but dam pressure remains. #Zhengzhou #Henan #floods pic.twitter.com/fjfJhWrQsM
— SHINE (@shanghaidaily) July 20, 2021

During China's rainy season, floods are a frequent occurrence, causing annual destruction and washing away highways, crops, and homes. However, the threat has grown over time, partially due to the extensive construction of dams and levees that have cut connections between rivers and lakes and altered floodplains that had helped absorb the surge.

Heavy flooding hit central China, with footage released by Chinese state TV showing the subway system in the city of Zhengzhou inundated with rushing water. https://t.co/7RsPyaWV5t pic.twitter.com/muF46shhhl
— ABC News (@ABC) July 21, 2021

Local media also reported earlier in the day that at least 12 people died in the province due to floods caused by torrential rains. Around 100,000 residents have been evacuated in the province so far. More than 6,000 military and fire service personnel are involved in rescue operations.

In the nearby city of Zhengzhou, at least one person died and two more were missing since heavy rain began battering the city, according to the state-run People's Daily, which reported that houses have collapsed. Zhengzhou Airport also canceled flights until Wednesday.

Since July 16, more than 144,660 people have been affected by torrential rains in Henan Province, with 10,152 being moved to safer areas, according to the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters cited by Xinhua.

 

[Apollonian]

At least 18 people drown as 'heaviest rain in 1,000 years' floods China with 22 INCHES in ONE day and subway passengers left trapped in neck-deep water while air slowly ran out​

5 minute Read

Link: http://www.hideoutnow.com/2021/07/at-least-18-people-drown-as-heaviest.html

At least 18 people have died after torrential rains inundated towns an cities in central China - trapping people in a flooded subway system in water up to their necks

Twelve of the deaths reported so far occurred in the city of Zhengzhou, Henan province, after the city's underground network flooded with horrifying videos showing people trapped in train carriages filling with water while awaiting rescue.

Another four were reported dead in the nearby town of Gongyi, while five were injured and another 200,000 displaced in what is believed to be the heaviest rainfall in the region for 1,000 years.

Disaster struck between 4pm and 5pm Tuesday as an incredible 22 inches of rain - seven months' worth - fell on already-saturated ground, triggering flash floods and causing rivers and reservoirs to burst their banks.

Train tracks turned to rivers in Zhengzhou as commuters on the city's 'Line 5' were trapped in flooding carriages than plunged into darkness as the power went out.

Survivors recalled fear gripping them as the waters rose, but said the most terrifying thing was when air inside the trains started to run out.

Terrifying moment people become trapped on flooding Chinese train

Flood water was waist deep for some passengers trapped in subway trains

Some passengers stood on seats to try and escape the rising waters

Passengers trapped on trains on the flooded Zhengzhou underground network yesterday. Shocking videos showed several trains caught in rising water

Videos on social media showed passengers in a flooded underground train carriage in central Zhengzhou clinging to handles as the water surged to shoulder height, with some standing on seats

Passengers from one of the stranded trains were led to safety along the trackside as flood torrents gushed past their feet

Parents could be seen holding their children up above the floodwaters as it leaked in around the carriage doors, rising above seat level and halfway up their chests.

Others showed water flowing freely down train track as bemused passengers stood on the platform, before beginning to evacuate.

One video showed a woman's hand with painted nails, gently pushing at the carriage window, a stirring sign of incredulity at the surging water level outside - a moment of dread before the inevitable breach of the carriage doors.

'Water was leaking from the cracks in the door, more and more of it, all of us who could, stood on the subway seats,' another woman said on Weibo.

She was making her way home around 5pm on Tuesday when her train halted between two stations close to the city centre.

Another user on Weibo recounted being forced back into a carriage after failed attempts to evacuate.

'In the half-hour that, followed the water level became higher and higher inside the train, from our ankles to our knees to our necks.'

'The power went out. Half an hour later it got hard to breathe.'

Suddenly the glass was smashed by rescuers, who state media said also cut into the stricken carriages from above to pull the passengers out to safety.

Huge floods in China sparks menacing factory explosion

Explosion at metal factory

An explosion ripped through a metal factory in the city of Denfang after a nearby river burst its banks and water mixed with hot metals, causing a reaction that blew a storage tank apart

Cars swept along a highway amid flooding in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou sit piled up after the waters subsided on Wednesday

A pile of wrecked vehicles is revealed on a highway in Zhengzhou, China, after flooding struck the city amid torrential downpours

A man wades past a flooded car on an intersection in Zhengzhou, China, after flooding

Witnesses added that many city buses, which run on electricity, had been deactivated during the heavy rain as they could not run - driving more people on to the subway and exacerbating the crisis.

The worst-affected area was on Line 5 of the subway between Haitansi and Shakoulu stations, where passengers were reportedly trapped for hours in train carriages filling with water, waiting to be rescued.

A male survivor named Zhang told state broadcaster CCTV: 'My shirt, my backpack - everything I could throw away, I threw away. The people around me clutched onto the railings as about a dozen of us were climbing (out of the tunnel).'

At around 7.30pm a woman identified as Xiaopei sent out an appeal for help on social media, according to the South China Morning Post.

'All emergency rescue units and firemen, please come save us!' said one of her messages sent at 7.32pm 'We are trapped in a Line 5 tunnel. Please help spread this message. The water inside the train is chest-deep. I can no longer speak, please help! SOS.'

At 7.46pm she made a final message before her phone's battery died, saying the water had reached her neck. It wasn't until over an hour later - at 8.50pm - that she and her fellow passengers were rescued.

Another woman spoke of the fear that gripped her and other passengers, saying there were children, pregnant women and elderly people among them. Outside the carriage, they could see the water level had risen above their heads.

Rescuers began pumping out water, but she was afraid that it would be too late.

'Looking at the overwhelming flood, I felt hopeless, preparing myself for the fact that I wouldn’t make it out alive. When I saw the water level had reached our heads, I began sending out my last goodbye messages and arranging affairs after my death with loved ones,' the woman told Bingdian Weekly.

Elsewhere, floods triggered a huge explosion at a metalworks in the city of Denfang after a nearby river burst its banks.

The blast was triggered when water got into a tank filled with hot metal alloys, causing a reaction which blew the tank apart and destroyed part of the factory.

Fortunately, workers had been evacuated two hours earlier so nobody was injured in the explosion.

Chinese President Xi Jinping declared the deadly flooding in central China's Henan province 'extremely severe', adding: 'Some reservoirs had their dams burst... causing serious injury, loss of life and property damage.'

The city's subway operator said in a statement on Tuesday that it would close all stations on all its lines due to the bad weather.

On its official Weibo account, the fire service shared reports that passengers were being rescued from stranded trains, but did not post its own statement.

One passenger's account said fire and rescue workers had opened a hole in the roof of her carriage and evacuated passengers one by one.

A man clutching a thermos and an umbrella wades through waist-deep water in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou amid torrential rains that killed 12

A man carries a woman through floodwaters in Zhengzhou which remained flooded on Wednesday morning after downpours on Tuesday evening

A woman pushes her dog along on a float as they try to escape floodwaters in Zhengzhou city

Men wade through the flood in Zhengzhou city, Henan province, after flooding in China

Weather authorities have issued the highest warning level for central Henan province as CCTV showed submerged cars, shuttered shops and residents of flooded streets being rescued in rafts, one clutching a baby.

Footage showed one man sitting on top of his half-submerged car in an underpass.

More than 10,000 people had been evacuated as of Tuesday afternoon, said provincial authorities, warning that 16 reservoirs had seen water rise to dangerous levels as downpours ruined thousands of acres of crops and caused damage amounting to around $11million.

Around 260 flights have been cancelled.

Floods are common during China's rainy season, which causes annual chaos and washes away roads, crops and houses.

But the threat has worsened over the decades, due in part to widespread construction of dams and levees that have cut connections between the river and adjacent lakes and disrupt floodplains that had helped absorb the summer surge.

Earlier this month hundreds of flights were cancelled in the capital Beijing and other nearby cities with schools and tourist sites closed as torrential downpours and gale-force winds battered the region.

People wade across a flooded intersection in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou following what observers believe to be the worst rains in 1,000 years

Construction equipment stands idle after a building site in downtown Zhengzhou was inundated with water on Tuesday

A view of a flooded road after downpours in Zhengzhou city in central China's Henan province on Tuesday

A Range Rover ploughs through floodwaters covering a road in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, after it was inundated with seven months' of rain in a single day

Rains brought the city of Zhengzhou to a standstill during Tuesday evening's rush hour, before waters found their way into the subway and flooded it - killing at least 12

People move through flood water after a heavy downpour in Zhengzhou city, braced with umbrellas and rain coats

 

[Apollonian]

Hundreds of thousands evacuated from areas devastated by floods as China death toll rises to 33 and more rain forecast (VIDEO) ​

22 Jul, 2021 09:06

Link: https://www.rt.com/news/529907-china-henan-floods-recovery/

Hundreds of thousands evacuated from areas devastated by floods as China death toll rises to 33 and more rain forecast (VIDEO)

Thousands of people are being evacuated from their homes in Henan province by a 76,000-strong relief force, as the meteorological office warns that storms and heavy rain is set to continue.

On Thursday, officials raised the death toll from the devastating floods to 33, as rescue workers battled to evacuate hundreds of thousands from further danger. Twelve of the 33 died when the subway in the provincial capital of Zhengzhou was flooded by storm waters.

The deadly weather is set to continue, with the province’s meteorological bureau raising the storm alert to red – the highest of the four-stage warning codes – for four Henan cities: Xinxiang, Anyang, Hebi, and Jiaozuo. While the skies have cleared over Zhengzhou, the flood waters remain high – waist height in some places.

Also on rt.com China refuses to participate in 2nd phase of WHO’s Covid origins probe, says research into lab leak theory goes against ‘science’
More than 73,000 people were being evacuated from the city of Anyang on Thursday. Footage shared online shows emergency crews ferrying locals to safety throughout the region.

#China: According to local authorities, more than 500 people have been evacuated from 4 flooded counties in northern #Henan as of Thursday morning.No more details (Weibo) pic.twitter.com/k8KB3xQeNb
— Wᵒˡᵛᵉʳᶤᶰᵉ Uᵖᵈᵃᵗᵉˢ (@W0lverineupdate) July 22, 2021Q

#RT@XHNews: Xinxiang Medical University, located in central China's Henan Province, has dispatched a forklift to transport free supplies for more than 400 graduate students trapped in floods on campus.#GLOBALinkpic.twitter.com/xXkXZExZ9I
— Tony De Vos (@milou1st) July 22, 2021Q

Anyang, which sits on the Henan border with Hebei province, has seen more than 600mm (23in) rainfall since Monday, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

Previous meteorological records were broken in Xinxiang, after the city recorded 812mm (32in) of rainfall between Tuesday and Thursday, according to Xinhua. The figure for those three days is greater than the entire annual rainfall of Beijing for a whole year. As a result, seven reservoirs around the city flooded, impacting nearby towns and villages.

The economic damage was estimated by Xinhua to be 1.22 billion yuan ($189 million), although the figure is likely to grow as the extreme weather spreads northwards. The agency stated that 470,000 people and over 55,000 hectares of crops have been impacted so far. The sheer scale of the damage is clear from videos and photos shared online.

On July 20th, 2021, the heaviest rainfall ever seen in China fell in Zhengzhou, Henan Province.An entire year's worth of rain fell in 24 hours. Eight inches of water fell in 1 hour.According to official reports, almost the entire city of over 10 million people is under water. pic.twitter.com/ol26Hd78FB
— Things China Doesn't Want You To Know (@TruthAbtChina) July 22, 2021Q

Subway flooding in #Zhengzhou Henan Province of PRC pic.twitter.com/zvbAWxmxax
— Vijaikumar Ramasamy (@Vijaikumar) July 21, 2021Q

Since daybreak, more videos have been posted that show just how bad the situation in northern Henan is right now. In Weihui, the water reaches up to the neck. pic.twitter.com/eRsgJqm3D9
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) July 22, 2021Q