Society

Yingjiang rushes to repair dyke before flood season

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-03-21 17:37

YINGJIANG, Yunnan - Hundreds of workers Monday rushed to repair a 53-kilometer dyke weakened by an earthquake 11 days ago in Yingjiang county, Southwest China's Yunnan province, as they only had about a month before the onset of the summer flood season.

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More than 38 kilometers of the dyke was seriously damaged in the 5.8-magnitude earthquake, experts with the county's water resources bureau said.

The earthquake left more than 160 cracks in the banks of the Dayingjiang River, with the widest measuring 40 cm and the deepest 2.5 meters, statistics from the bureau show.

More than 200,000 people live along the Dayingjiang River.

Five construction teams Monday started the repair work which needs to be finished by May 20 before the flood season arrives, as water flow during that period can rise to over 30 times the current volume, according to experts with the bureau.

The quake, which struck the county on March 10, left 25 people dead and 314 injured. It toppled 1,039 homes and seriously damaged 4,994 others.

As of Monday, all primary and high schools had reopened in the county.