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Chinese Citizens, Soldiers Fight Dongting Lake Flood

Aired August 23, 2002 - 14:33   ET

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

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Parts of central China are under water, and hundreds of thousands of people worry their towns may be next. A massive lake is in danger of overflowing. There is quite literally an army of citizens and soldiers who are trying to prevent that from happening.
Paul Davies with Independent Television has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL DAVIES, INDEPENDENT TELEVISION (voice-over): Flooding is an annual curse for the Chinese people, but there is a desperation surrounding attempts to shore up the crumbling banks of Dongting Lake. Even in normal times, this immense body of water covers more than 1,000 square miles. Now it is swollen by weeks of rain and threatening devastation on a scale that would overshadow the floods that have blighted Eastern Europe.

Already, 600,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Hunan Province. But if the lake's flood defenses fail, two major cities and millions of people will be at risk. International aid agencies say the region is on the brink of a major disaster.

NILS JUL, INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS: A Red Cross official described the situation to me by comparing the situation to a balloon full of water: As long as the balloon lasts, you won't have a problem, but as soon as it bursts, you will have water everywhere. And I that will very much be the situation here. If the dikes break, you will have water everywhere.

DAVIES: The last time floodwater in Dongting Lake reached this level, in 1998, 4,000 people lost their lives.

The critical time is expected to come this weekend, when floods now surging down the Yangtze River will reach the lake.

Paul Davies, ITV News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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