The hazardous situation around Dongting Lake in Huarong County, Yueyang City, Hunan Province has not completely ended, as another emergency has arisen in Jiu Feng Reservoir in Pingjiang County of the same city. Residents in four towns are being asked to evacuate. Villagers reported that this is the second evacuation after a previous emergency at Jiu Feng Reservoir a few days ago.
On July 9th, the flood control and drought relief headquarters in Miluo City, Yueyang City, Hunan Province issued an urgent order stating that a hazardous situation has occurred at Jiu Feng Reservoir in Pingjiang County. Residents of Sanjiang Town, Dajing Town, Changle Town, and Luojiang Town are required to evacuate immediately and “must evacuate as much as possible.”
Local internet users also revealed, “Jiu Feng Reservoir is facing a hazardous situation, and people are being evacuated to a high place 4 kilometers away.”
Mr. Yang, a villager near Jiu Feng Reservoir, said on July 9th to “Gazing News” that they received an evacuation notice before 8 a.m., informing them of a hazardous situation due to leakage at Jiu Feng Reservoir, prompting villagers to move to the homes of relatives in higher ground. He mentioned that a few days ago, there was a hazardous incident at Jiu Feng Reservoir. They went back home after seeing that it was fine, but this is the second evacuation.
As early as around 11 a.m. on the 5th, significant water seepage was discovered at the original drainage prism foothill of the Jiu Feng Reservoir dam. Upon excavation, a 300-millimeter abandoned old drainage pipe was found to be discharging turbid water. At that time, it was reported that if the hazardous situation continued to develop, it could affect about 21,000 people downstream.
According to the report from “Jiemian News,” around 3:30 a.m. on the 9th, the inspection personnel found that the seepage flow rate at the leakage site increased from the original 0.045 cubic meters per second to 0.067 cubic meters per second. By 5:42 a.m., the seepage flow rate reached its peak at 0.093 cubic meters per second. In the afternoon at 4 p.m., the reservoir’s outflow hole was out of control, and the outflow volume increased.
There are 10 village groups in Shuikou Village, Cenquan Town of the county, with a total of over a thousand residents. Gan Yongzhen, a villager of Ganjia Group in the village, mentioned that the remaining people in the village are mostly elderly and children, as many have gone out to work. They can only wait for further instructions and return home once the reservoir is repaired.
Ms. Zhou, from Luojiang Village in Luojiang Town, which is 31 kilometers away from Jiu Feng Reservoir, stated that most people in the village have not evacuated. However, her area suffered a breach on July 2nd, and the village was flooded, causing severe damage to households. The farmers are still draining the water.
She said, “The breach is located at the Yukan Pao Tang area in Luojiang Village, starting about ten meters wide, and when the dam was blocked, it had expanded to around 30 meters.”
Ms. Zhang from Baotang Village in Luojiang Town recounted that a few days ago, after water seepage at Jiu Feng Reservoir, her mother-in-law’s house was flooded, with the water level exceeding 2 meters in low-lying areas. After the water receded, their furniture was soaked, and they had to use over ten packages of disinfectant.