Beijing —
Already harrowing rescue operations along the China-Nepal border have been made more difficult by the risk of fresh flooding and landslides, with Chinese and Nepali authorities suspending rescue efforts on Friday over those concerns.
A barred lake, which holds enough water to fill an estimated 1,000 Olympic swimming pools, began flooding on the China-Nepal border, forming after powerful landslides and torrential rains ravaged the area on Wednesday. A dam lake is a body of water created by earth and stones that dammed a river.
Helicopter rescue operations in Nepal’s flood-hit Rasuwa district were called off after reports that a lake had begun to overflow, and locals could be seen running up hills, Reuters reported, citing witnesses.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported late Friday morning that the newly formed lake was beginning to flood uncontrollably, posing such a danger that rescue teams were unable to reach hard-hit land ports.
“It is extremely dangerous to proceed into the areas identified as a priority for search and rescue operations as there is a very real possibility of causing new flash floods or landslides,” CCTV reported on Friday.
As a result, Chinese rescue teams have been monitoring the situation in a village several kilometers from the Jilong border port, a major disaster area, dealing another blow to an already difficult operation as rescue teams struggle with kilometers of roads leading to the port blocked by thick mud and debris.
Authorities are closely monitoring the upper reaches of the weir lake, about 10 kilometers upstream from the port, with teams sent to monitor the lake and others working on risk analyzes to adapt rescue plans.
A senior government official in Nepal’s Rasuwa district confirmed on Friday that Chinese authorities had shared information about the lake’s flooding.
On Friday afternoon, CCTV announced that the amount of water in the lake continued to expand on Friday morning, forming a lake with a storage capacity of approximately more than 2.5 million cubic meters. Members of a team sent to monitor the lake around midnight on Friday told CCTV that the barrier forming the lake was about 150 meters long and 40 to 50 meters high.
Chen Hanxiao, a member of the team from China’s Ann engineering rescue Lhasa base, told CCTV in a late-night interview: “Currently, the rocks and soil along the area are loose. During the assessment work, several secondary collapses occurred on top of the barrier.”
Chen said safety personnel will monitor the area and “immediately withdraw” if they detect any significant evacuation signs.
The main concern is how the lake changes during continued rain, which could significantly increase water levels, putting even more pressure on the dam and putting it at further risk of bursting. Experts say such breaches can be released slowly or suddenly.
Austin Lord, a senior fellow in the Energy, Water and Sustainability Program at the Stimson Center think tank, said experts are currently monitoring two dammed lakes. He was referring to a newly formed lake beneath the crack in the glacier that broke apart on Wednesday, causing the first disaster.
CNN has located the lake, and Chinese authorities are also monitoring the lake, calling it an “impact crater,” according to state media reports. One report said authorities are also assessing how a breach here would affect the lower lake.
Lord said both lake bursts could cause minor flooding in the same channel as the first event, rather than a major flood like Wednesday’s.
“The amount is increasing. The amount is not significant, but it’s not enough that if it fails, it could cause an event of the magnitude that we saw,” Lord told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Thursday night ET, citing the current situation.
“There are concerns for search and rescue personnel operating along the river corridor itself,” he said. He added that the challenge over the next few days is whether the weather system continues to increase the volume behind the lake.
