Worse to come in killer floods

Greenpeace photos show firemen being rescued from China's worst oil spill after a pipe line exploded in the northern port of Dalian, pouring oil into the Yellow Sea. Photo / AP

More than 1000 people have died or been lost in severe flooding in China so far this year, and the heaviest rains are still to come, a senior official warned.

Flooding this year has inflicted the worst toll on China for a decade, killing 701 people, leaving 347 still missing and causing billions of dollars in damage.

Three-quarters of China's provinces have been hit by flooding and 25 rivers have seen record high-water levels the general secretary of the Government's flood prevention agency, Liu Ning, told a news conference.

Aside from the human toll, 645,000 houses have been toppled and overall damage now totalled 142.2 billion yuan ($29.25 billion).

With the flood season far from over, this year is shaping up to be one of the most devastating since 1998, which was the worst in 50 years.

"Since 60 to 80 per cent of the annual rain level occurs in June, July and August, we should be prepared to prevent and combat potential disasters," Liu said.

Tropical storm Chanthu is expected to hit China's southern island of Hainan and Guangdong province this weekend.

Flooding, particularly along the Yangtze River Basin, has overwhelmed reservoirs, swamped towns and cities, and broken off hillsides causing landslides that have smothered communities.

Soldiers used bulldozers to plough through debris in search of survivors from separate landslides in Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces, while workers in other parts of the country scrambled to drain overflowing reservoirs and pile up sandbags to prevent further flooding, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

In all, flooding and landslides from rain-soaked hillsides in Shaanxi have killed 37 and left another 97 missing. In nearby Sichuan province, rescuers searched for 13 missing people after a landslide hit Xujiaping Village, burying homes and blocking roads.

Xinhua and state broadcaster China Central Television reported that the Three Gorges Dam was dealing with its highest water levels when a flood crest passed the dam yesterday.

The Government cited flood control along the Yangtze as one of the main reasons for the US$23 billion dam project that forced the relocation of 1.4 million people.

China is also dealing with its largest reported oil spill, rushing to keep it from reaching international waters.

Crude oil started pouring into the Yellow Sea off the busy northeastern port of Dalian after a pipeline exploded late last week, sparking a huge 15-hour fire. The Government says the slick has spread across a 180sq km stretch of ocean. The cause of the blast is still not clear. The pipeline is owned by China National Petroleum, Asia's biggest oil and gas producer.

Greenpeace China shot several photographs at the scene before its team was forced to leave. They showed oil-slicked rocky beaches, a man covered in thick black sludge, and workers carrying a colleague covered in oil away from the scene.

The Xinhua News Agency reported that a 25-year-old firefighter, Zhang Liang, drowned after a large wave pushed him into the sea amid the clean-up. Another man who also fell in was rescued.

It was not clear if either were the men shown in the Greenpeace photos.

Activists said it was too early to tell what impact the pollution might have on marine life. Officials told Xinhua they did not yet know how much oil had leaked.

Dalian's vice-mayor, Dai Yulin, told Xinhua 40 specialised oil-control boats would be on the scene with hundreds of fishing boats. Oil-eating bacteria were also being used in the clean-up.

"Our priority is to collect the spilled oil within five days to reduce the possibility of contaminating international waters," he said.

But an official with the State Oceanic Administration has warned the spill will be difficult to clean up even in twice that amount of time. The Dalian port is China's second largest for crude oil imports, and last week's spill appears to be the country's largest in recent memory.

"In terms of what is known to the public, this is definitely the biggest," said Yang Ailun, spokeswoman for Greenpeace China.

She said: "Government and business leaders have been telling the media that there's no environmental impact. From Greenpeace's perspective, that's very irresponsible. It's too early to tell. Oil is still floating around.


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