Pithaly

I mean, here we have weapons being used for peaceful purposes. These are Chinese soldiers and one must admire their resourcefulness and readiness to take such a risk as firing missiles at the landslide to create a pathway for the water, so that it flows at just the right rate.

The Chinese General who was in charge needs to honoured in the lines Patton!

This culminates a news item that I've been following very closely.

"Torrents of muddy water gushed out of the lake throughout the day, sweeping through towns and villages in Sichuan province that were flattened by last month's devastating earthquake, which left over 86,000 people dead or missing."

"After a nervous few hours, the water in the lake fell below the top-alert level without causing any major flooding problems downstream. "

"Those efforts included firing small missiles and using dynamite to clear boulders from the planned spillways -- dramatic measures implemented in recent days that finally cleared the channels enough for Tuesday's massive draining."

"Throughout Tuesday, water flowed steadily out of the lake 50 times faster than it was coming in, Xinhua said -- a rate roughly the equivalent of two Olympic-sized swimming pools being drained every second. " Read more on this article...

On the one hand, Reuters says that the danger has INCREASED due to the fast draining of the lake.

On the other hand AFP reports that the fast draining of the lake has allowed the water levels to fall and has eased the risk.

I think this is a catch 22 situation!


MIANYANG, China (Reuters) - Muddy lake water from a dangerously unstable "quake lake" rushed into the devastated Chinese town of Beichuan on Tuesday, covering about a third of the ruins, after soldiers used explosives to widen a sluice.

Brown water, clumps of trees and occasional vehicles were moving quickly into low-lying areas of the town, washing away remains of corpses, family mementoes and valuables left under the rubble.

The water level at the Tangjiashan quake lake, formed by China's most devastating earthquake in decades, dropped by nearly eight meters (26 ft) in three hours on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency said.

Helicopters were evacuating remaining soldiers and experts from the top of the dam, which was no longer safe with cracks appearing as the flow of water accelerated by more than tenfold, Xinhua said, adding some mountains near the lake had started crumbling.


http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSPEK30372720080610

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MIANYANG, China (AFP) — Water is finally gushing out of a dangerous quake lake, China said on Tuesday, after firing missiles and using dynamite and bulldozers to clear more diversion channels.

Shortly before noon, water was draining out nearly 60 times faster than it was flowing in, after boulders were destroyed and other huge debris removed, the state Xinhua news agency said.

China's military had resorted to the dramatic measure of firing 10 small missiles to blast away huge boulders that were blocking the path of one of the channels.

The falling water levels have eased the immediate dangers posed by the Tangjiashan lake, created when landslides blocked a river in southwest China's mountainous Sichuan province during the devastating May 12 earthquake.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5juH8uynH8Cwzw1QnsxrnYblgek7w Read more on this article...