‘We were lucky the dam didn’t give way’: how central China floods exposed risk of worse disaster
- An official responsible for a reservoir near Zhengzhou says the devastating floods came close to triggering a far worse catastrophe
- Locals and officials in Henan say they were unprepared for the sudden deluge, which threatened to overwhelm ageing flood defences
Zhao, the Communist Party secretary responsible for the 61-year-old Changzhuang Reservoir, said the surging waters breached the warning level within a few hours, prompting an emergency discharge of water.
“It was a matter of luck that [the reservoir] didn’t collapse, as the situation with the dam was very dangerous at that time,” he said, contemplating a situation that would have proved catastrophic for the provincial capital, a city of more than 10 million people.
He said the heavy flooding had also disrupted phone and internet services in the area, forcing officials at the dam to rely on walkie-talkies to communicate.
The floods in Henan killed at least 73 people and exposed a series of problems with the ageing dams and flood defences in the province, where many residents and officials are not experienced in dealing with sudden downpours.