Due to floods and a downpour in the quake zone, a barrier lake has created a challenge for evacuating local residents from the lower reaches of the Niulan River near the border of Ludian County, southwest China's Yunnan Province.

According to the State Flood Control Headquarters, a passage to the lake was successfully built to allow large machines to drain the water out of the lake. The lake's water level has been rising since the earthquake.

Only 36 meters from its warning level, it is dangerously close to overflowing. A channel is being built to drain water from the lake. The digging work is expected to take another four days, with more than 150 machines, including excavators and bulldozers working day and night.

(CNTV.cn August 9, 2014)