Thousands Try To Out Run Overflowing Lake In China

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As the waters rise 1.2 million people are in the process of being evacuated from Qingchuan 55 miles from Beichuan. In the city of Beichuan, already hard hit by the earthquake, there are 46 people who are in dire need of help to escape the flood waters but too seriously injured to make the trek up into the mountains on their own.

At this point even the rescue workers have been running for their lives as the radio announced an "all retreat" warning.

There has been concern about the hundreds of dams in China that were structurally damaged during Monday's earthquake and the continuing aftershocks that have shook the region. In the mountainous province of Sichuan the concerns have been growing daily. The area is the size of Spain.

Five days into the recovery effort there is some good news to report as survivors are still being found in the rubble. A German tourist was pulled out from debris in Wenchuan after being buried for 114 hours.

The current death toll in China has reached over 22,000 but it is expected to reach a much higher 50,000 as more bodies are found.

The quake has left about 4.8 million people homeless.

"Although the time for the best chance of rescue, the first 72 hours after an earthquake, has passed, saving lives remains the top priority of our work," President Hu told distraught survivors just over a week after a jubilant China celebrated the Olympic torch reaching the summit of Mount Everest.

In other earthquake disasters in the world survivors have been found alive after two weeks but those cases are few and far between.

33 people were found alive in the rubble of Beichuan on Saturday. One man and 18 scientists were among those rescued.

Not only is the region having to deal with the destruction on towns and cities from the earthquake itself but as the concern grows daily on the shape of the dams this area will take a long time to recover. Some of the dams have already reported leaks. Several of those are along the Min River.

Another growing concern is that there are possible radiation leaks in the area as well. China's chief nuclear weapons research lab is in hard hit Mianyang. There are also several secret atomic sites in the area but there are no nuclear power stations there.