A villager walks over destroyed houses in Fujiian after heavy rains and flooding caused by typhoon Nepartak. (Photo : Twitter)
Thousands of residents were evacuated Saturday after floodwaters breached a dike in Hunan Province as Super Typhoon Nepartak continues to batter Central China.
Evacuations were ordered after the dike protecting the Xinhua flood detention basin in Huarong County was breached at around 11 a.m. on Saturday, an official of the Hunan Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said.
An estimated 5,000 residents were moved out of the area, the South China Morning Post reported. The basin covers more than 4,400 hectares and is home to an estimated 27,000 people.
Around 400 military personnel were also deployed in the area to assist in relief operations. However, the official said that casualties are likely to be low, as the water level was not high enough to affect the larger population.
Nevertheless, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said that incidents like this show the need for better flood control embankments. Li also said that officials overseeing such projects should be more responsible in ensuring the quality of the structures.
The premier made the remarks during a State Council executive meeting after he arrived from Wuhan Province. Li was in Wuhan overseeing rescue and relief operations for those affected by the typhoon. Earlier, he went to the provinces of Hunan and Anhui to inspect flood control projects.
Li noted that the spillover point of the Wuhan embankment was just 400 meters away from the Yangtze, which he said could cause considerable impact should it be breached by floodwaters.
Nepartak, which had maximum sustained winds of 175 miles per hour, made landfall in the province of Fujian on Saturday, dumping large amounts of rain that caused flooding in the area. The Fujian water resources department said that at least two people have been killed, CBC News reported.
Earlier, the typhoon also hit the island nation of Taiwan, delivering 61 centimeters of rain.
