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CNN Live Saturday

Emergency Workers Battle Flood in Central China

Aired August 24, 2002 - 17:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In China, emergency workers, soldiers and volunteers try to keep levies around Dung-Ting (ph) lake from bursting. The area is home to some 10 million people. CNN's Jaime Florcruz looks at the flood dangers in central China.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAIME FLORCRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Flooding in Yueyang City has inundated thousands of homes along the Dung-Ting (ph) lake, China's second largest inland lake, twice the size of Hong Kong.

Relentless rain has swollen the lake to more than one meter above its flood warning mark, forcing many residents to evacuate their homes, shops and offices. Flooding has already destroyed large tracts of farmland, roads and bridges.

As the weather has cleared up the past few days, resilient residents turned the deluge into a good thing, finding dried spots to indulge in some fishing.

On the dikes of the river, close to a million workers and soldiers are racing against time, reinforcing levies and dikes. Flood control officials are cautiously optimistic that the defenses will hold. Still, Yueyang residents are bracing up for the worst. A massive flood crest flowing from the mighty Yangtze River is expected to hit the lake, threatening to breach its banks. Should the dikes burst, some 10 million people who live near the lake face a calamity of epic proportion.

Jaime Florcruz, CNN, at Dung-Ting (ph) lake, Yueyang, China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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