insurance cover flood?

China tries to get people clear of flooding danger
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These before and after photos show a swelling lake created near the epicenter of the earthquake in China, caused by a landslide that blocked the Jian river. The top image was taken on May 14, 2006, and the bottom photo is from May 22, 2008, 10 days after the earthquake.



EARTHQUAKE IN CHINA

Disaster: Earthquake shakes Sichuan province; see photos from quake's aftermath



Aid: Victims lacking documentation denied shelter | U.S. offers help | Chinese-Americans make donations



Tourists: Americans survive quake unhurt



Hard-hit county: Relief finally reaches survivors in Beichuan



Damage: Troops rush to plug dams | Scientists say quake struck in 2 stages



Honoring the dead: National mourning for quake victims begins | Photos | Olympic relay suspended



Diplomacy: Taiwan's Ma says quake could open door to peace




DEADLY DISASTER BY NUMBERS

Latest facts about the May 12 earthquake that struck a city in China's Sichuan province, the country's worst in 30 years:

Magnitude: 7.9 (U.S.); 8.0 (China).

Disaster area population: 20 million.

Missing: 29,328.

Injured: 288,431.

Homeless: 5 million.

Classrooms destroyed: 6,898.

Orphans: 4,000.

Tents needed: 3.3 million.

Animals killed: 12.5 million.

Company losses: $9.5 billion.

Reconstruction: $10 billion government fund.

Sources: Chinese government.






Yahoo! Buzz Digg Newsvine Reddit FacebookWhat's this?By Paul Wiseman, USA TODAY
CHENGDU, China — Chinese officials scrambled Tuesday to move nearly 160,000 people away from a swollen mountain lake that could flood communities recovering from a deadly earthquake.
The lake was created when the May 12 quake, which killed more than 67,000 people, triggered mudslides that blocked the Jianjiang River. The lake sits upstream from the devastated towns of Beichuan and Mianyang, and the rocks holding the water in place could disintegrate at any time.

Adding to the urgency: The mountain lake is rising by 3 feet every 24 hours, Liu Ning, chief engineer at the Ministry of Water Resources, told state television. Weather forecasts call for rain Thursday and Friday.

Aftershocks continued to rattle the region. Two tremors caused more than 420,000 houses to collapse in Qingchuan County on Tuesday, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Sixty-three people were injured, including six who were critically hurt.

People living downstream from the unstable lake are bracing for a deluge. Under the worst-case scenario, the flooding could raise by 44 feet the level of the Fu River that runs through Mianyang, the city's Communist Party chief, Tan Li, told local television. That would force the evacuation of up to 1.3 million people, according to the city's website.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Beijing | Communist Party | Health Ministry | China Daily | Xinhua | Beichuan | Mianyang | Ministry of Water Resources | Tangjiashan
Authorities have decided to evacuate 158,000 people in advance. Mianyang Vice Mayor Lin Xinshuo said it was unlikely the lake would burst, but "we should prepare for it." On its website, the city predicted residents would have at least 24 hours notice before any flooding began.

Earthmoving equipment has been airlifted to the remote scene to dig a channel 200 yards wide, draining the lake before it bursts — a task that is likely to take 10 days, according to state news media. If that doesn't work, soldiers and police will blast the landslide barrier with dynamite, the official China Daily newspaper reported Tuesday.

In a live broadcast, state television showed heavy earthmoving equipment carving a channel to drain the water from the Tangjiashan lake.

"We are prepared to get rid of the trees by chopping and explosion. After that, the second batch of equipment will be moved in," Liu was quoted as saying on CCTV.

By Tuesday afternoon, more than 70,000 had been evacuated, according to Xinhua.

The quake created 35 lakes, China Daily reported.

Higher-than-normal rates of stomach pains and fever have been reported among the millions of quake survivors, but no major disease outbreaks have occurred.

About 5 million people were left homeless by the quake, and many live in tents or makeshift camps clustered throughout the disaster zone.

Qi Xiaoqiu, the director of disease prevention at the Health Ministry, said the quake knocked out much of the region's health infrastructure.

He said 12 field hospitals had been erected and tens of thousands of health professionals sent into the zone.

"With the destruction by the quake, the living and sanitary conditions have worsened for the local population," Qi said in Beijing. "Their physical conditions are weakened, (they are) more vulnerable to disease."

Diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis and diarrhea remained a threat, but no outbreaks had been reported, he said.

Contributing: wire reports