Rescue personnel are sealing a breached dyke at China's second-largest freshwater lake in the south of the country after water levels stabilised on both sides of the burst, Chinese state media says.
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The 226-metre stretch of dyke breached at Dongting Lake in Hunan province on Friday, with 5700 residents relocated, China Central Television reported.
More than 2300 rescue personnel were working to build a second line of defence, with footage showing excavators piling boulders into barriers and being resupplied by trucks.
No one had been injured as of early Saturday, reports said.
Earlier footage showed a wave of water surging through a breach in the dyke past several overturned lorries, along with large stretches of half-submerged houses and fields in the surrounding area.
On Saturday afternoon, the Ministry of Water Resources said it would also inspect dykes on Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, in southeast China, as well as embankments along the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
Heavy rainfall pounded parts of Hunan province earlier this week, causing the Miluo River in Pingjiang County to swell to its highest in 70 years.
Local authorities responded by activating the maximum emergency response level.
State media showed large parts of towns waterlogged and stranded people being rescued on boats.
Australian Associated Press
