'Quake Lake' Drainage Eases Danger in China

TAOHUA MOUNTAIN, China, June 7 -- The residents of low-lying areas of Mianyang city who had not yet been ordered to evacuate trudged up nearby hills, scouting out the best places to set up tents and checking their emergency supplies.

"I've prepared bottled water to drink, some steamed buns to eat and some clothes. But it's difficult to judge whether the flood risk is big or small," said Zhang Lihua, a retired secretary. "Even on television, Premier Wen Jiabao said the situation is very complicated."

As soldiers began draining a massive lake created when earthquake-triggered landslides blocked a river in Sichuan province, the threat of imminent flooding appeared to pass Saturday. But that did not mean hundreds of thousands of refugees could go home.

"Emergency work is still proceeding urgently, but in the foreseeable future, there's no risk of the dam collapsing," Fan Xiaoguang, the Chengdu military region deputy commander, told the official New China News Agency.

Officials plan to continue a controlled release of water to ease pressure on the dam at the Tangjiashan "quake lake." But evacuation plans for many people remain in place.

As a result, residents whose lives have been turned upside down, first by the May 12 earthquake and then by the uncertainty of how a river might flow, played a frustrating game of hurry up and wait Saturday.

Many are living without running water and electricity, in tents that leak when it rains or heat up to 100 degrees in the sun. Others have enough electricity for lamps but not for television sets, and they complain that they are unable to follow the news.

"Sometimes the effect of the lake is big, sometimes it's not. I can't go to school and I can't go home," said Pao Tao, 18, a student at Mianyang High School. "On the other hand, I can't see the lake, so it feels very far away from me. My life is so boring right now. I just want to go back to school. School was supposed to reopen this week, after the earthquake, but because of the flood danger, the plan changed."

China Fire Services Engine No. 2 from Jiangyou city pulls up to a dirt intersection here each day, dispensing water through valves on both sides of the truck. Normally, wells in the area are enough to sustain local farmers, but not now.

On Saturday, people ran to the truck with shallow basins, garbage pails and large plastic bags to fill. In minutes, three tons of water had been drained from the truck.

"We'll come back until everyone has water," the driver promised.

Nearby, Wang Xiaoquan, a local official for Taihua village, sat bare-chested under the afternoon sun, his hands filled with cash and a large circle of villagers around him.

"All of our village has been evacuated here. I'm responsible for 155 people, but there are more than 4,000 people on this mountain," said Wang, who was giving out compensation payments from the village committee.

The central government has promised 300 yuan, or about $43, to each affected resident. It has also ordered the distribution of relief goods, but there is not always enough to go around.

"In the first few days after the earthquake, our production unit only got four bags of rice," Wang said, as an assistant helped him keep track of who had been paid. "When it's not enough, it's a big headache when it comes to giving things out."

News researcher Zhang Jie contributed to this report.