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SonTek/YSI Assists China
Fears of flash flooding and massive mudslides threatened thousands in China, who were working to pick up the shattered pieces following the massive 8.0 magnitude earthquake, the epicenter of which was Wenchuan county's Sichuan province on May 12. As strong aftershocks continued to rattle an already weakened infrastructure, and a monsoon season just around the corner, SonTek/YSI, and parent company YSI Inc., responded by donating acoustic Doppler profiler measurement systems, that will allow regional hydrologists to gauge the speed and strength of water flow. A simple ceremony was held at the Sichuan Hydrology Bureau on May 22, attended by SHB Director, Zhang Ting, SonTek and YSI Applications Specialists, James Chen and Mark Tepper, as well as other government officials and local hydrologists. On May 24, after receiving special permission to enter the disaster zone, SonTek's Chen and Tepper, along with local hydrologists, assisted in the collection of data in the Luoshui River in the city of Shifang, which was earlier blocked by rocks and mud. According to first-hand accounts by Tepper "the monitoring station was severely damaged and the cableway which is normally operated to make flow measurements was completely destroyed. Both sides of the river were pummeled with large rocks. Officials were concerned about 34 lakes that formed due to landslides. Hydrology officials wish to measure the volume and depth of the water in these lakes as quickly as possible. However, Tepper said access was extremely difficult, with steep cliffs surrounding the lakes and no road access. Helicopters were the only method of transportation to the lakes and Tepper said he and Chen were on stand-by to assist. The Doppler current surveyors allow for very fast assessment of the overall flood conditions. The advanced hydroacoustic measurement techniques can do in minutes what it normally takes field crew hours to do using conventional instruments. According to officials from the Sichuan and Shaanxi Hydrology Bureaus and the Sichuan SEPA, over two dozen hydrology monitoring stations are inoperable or are completely destroyed and they are urgently in need of equipment to measure water flow and quality. Reports estimate 400 dams have been damaged and are possible threat to approximately 180,000 residents who live in the dams' paths.
12 MTR
June 2008
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