Beijing, Moscow cooperate on floods
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E-mail China Daily, August 19, 2013
China and Russia are working well together to fight flooding that is affecting both countries, the central government said on Sunday.
Meanwhile, meteorologists warn that disaster control in Northeast China will be difficult in the coming week even though the heavy rainfall is expected to taper off.
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After more than five hours of work, soldiers successfully repaired a 1,000-meter dike that was on the verge of being breached in Xunke county, Heilongjiang province, on Saturday. The Heilong River's level in the county exceeded the danger mark by 1.76 meters on Saturday, causing the dike to spring several leaks. [Photo/China Daily] |
Beginning last week, continuous strong rainfall has caused the biggest flooding since 1998 in the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning. Swollen rivers have claimed at least 40 lives, with dozens missing and millions of other residents also affected by the disaster.
Some have said that Russia's discharge of floodwaters from upstream reservoirs made controlling flooding in China more difficult, especially in Heilongjiang.
But the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said on Sunday that Russia has paid close attention to the situation and worked with China on flood control efforts in the province.
"When flooding hit its Zeya and Bureya rivers, (Russia) made a strong effort to hold the flooding in its reservoirs, greatly reducing the flood pressure on the main stream of the Heilong River," the office said.
For instance, on Aug 2, the Zeya Reservoir saw a maximum inflow of water at 11,700 cubic meters per second but kept the outflow at 3,500 cu m per second.
At Bureya Reservoir, the water inflow reached 5,050 cu m per second on Friday, but Russia kept its outflow at around 1,000 cu m per second.
The remarks came after news reports that said China and Russia had accused each other of floodwater discharges that had worsened the flooding in the countries.
