BEIJING, May 21 (UPI) -- China says most of its power dams and lakes in quake-hit Sichuan province are safe for now but face risks of heavy rain and aftershocks in coming days.
Provincial Vice-Governor Li Chengyun warned that 21 of the lakes could flood. Moderate to heavy rains are forecast for the disaster-struck areas in the next three days, China Daily reported.
The Sichuan earthquake administration says there is still the threat of severe aftershocks.
One such threatened lake was formed by a landslide currently blocking the Qianjiang River. Authorities say the lake is more than 131 feet deep and holds up to 40 million cubic meters (more than 1.5 billion cubic feet) of water.
Water from some of these lakes already is rising, forcing the evacuation of people living downstream.
"As the rainy season is approaching, these unstable lakes, or natural reservoirs, pose a serious threat to densely populated downstream areas," one expert told the newspaper.
Engineer Gu Junyuan with the State Electricity Regulatory Commission said as of Monday all hydropower stations along the Minjiang River, flowing through the quake-hit areas, were "quite safe."
Experts said most of the dams are solid gravity dams or gate dams, which can withstand overflowing water.
"Even if there are some problems with these dams, we have the giant Zipingpu Reservoir downstream of the Minjiang River," Gu said. He said the reservoir suffered minor damage during the earthquake but is now operating properly.
Earlier, China announced all its nuclear power plants in the quake-hit regions are safe and have been secured.
The latest official death toll from the May 12 earthquake was put at 40,075 as of Tuesday, including 39,577 in Sichuan. Another 247,645 people were injured, while 32,361 people remained missing.
More than 5.3 million buildings have collapsed, and more than 21 million were damaged in the earthquake. The next challenge for the government is to find shelter for the 5 million homeless people in Sichuan, who are currently living in tent cities.
