Onset of flood season adds to quake zone risks

Monitoring and prevention efforts will be stepped up as secondary geological events overlapping with the flood season present a tremendous challenge for disaster relief operations in Sichuan Province's quake-hit areas, said a senior official of the provincial government on Thursday.

An umbrella is seen in rain outside a tent at a temporary settlement for quake-affected people in Lushan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 23, 2013. A rainfall hit Lushan on Tuesday, the fourth day after a 7.0-magnitude jolted the county on April 20. [Photo/Xinhua]

Probe teams have discovered more than 1,900 high-risk spots in Lushan and Baoxing counties, Zhong Mian, executive deputy governor of Sichuan Province, said at a news conference in Beijing.

The two counties in Ya'an were the areas most affected by the magnitude-7 earthquake on April 20.

"Ya'an is a place with abundant rainfall and heavy rain is very common during the flood season. Strong rain in the earthquake zone will easily trigger devastating geological disasters," Zhong said.

He said the weather has caused landslides along the major route for transporting disaster relief materials, which has made relief work difficult.

Aware of the challenges, the government has dispatched 17 teams to carry out thorough geological examinations and send out emergency alerts.

The local government will also carefully evaluate the potential risks of geological disasters and flooding in resettlement spots, he said, adding that the government will remove people from dangerous places.

The measures came after President Xi Jinping called on Sichuan authorities and all departments involved in disaster relief work to take effort to prevent secondary disasters, further casualties and economic losses, China Central Television reported on Thursday night.

Song Xingren, a resident of Xinmin, a village in Baoxing County, said a rescue team, who risked their lives to transport the food along a severely damaged 40-km mountainous road, distributed instant noodles to about 100 households in the village on Wednesday.

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