When Xiao Yang and her family evacuated their home in the early
hours of Wednesday night, the water outside was already past their
knees.
Struggling with children and grandparents the group headed for
higher ground, but, reluctant to leave the farming family's
valuables behind, Xiao's husband decided to go back to save
whatever he could carry.
As he disappeared into the darkness, it was the last time any
one would see him alive.
First light revealed that their home had been washed away,
sweeping Xiao's husband to his death.
Torrents and mud flows caused by the rains pounding central
China's Hunan,
southwest China's Sichuan
and Guizhou
provinces, and northwest China's Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region resulted in at least 88 deaths as of 4
PM on Friday, with a further 73 missing, according to the Ministry
of Civil Affairs.
Yang Zhiai, director of the Rescue Department of the Hunan
Provincial Red Cross, yesterday visited Xiao Yang's village,
Taizhimiao, where the 400 residents have seen many of their homes
destroyed.
Village mostly gone
"Most of the village was gone, and homeless villagers were
crying for their loss," he said.
"Houses made of mud and bricks were completely destroyed by the
flood. Ploughed fields have been torn up by the water."
A county official who gave only his surname, Zhu, attributed the
damage to torrential storms that dropped more than 200mm of rain on
central and western Hunan between Tuesday and Wednesday while many
were sleeping.
The head of the village told Yang that it would take about five
years for the village to recover.
The disaster has forced the evacuation of more than 215,000
people.
Latest figures show more than 69,000 houses destroyed and
198,000 more damaged.
Nearly 55,000 hectares of ploughed fields have been ruined, with
another 311,000 hectares being partially spoiled.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs estimated the direct economic loss
will reach at least 2.47 billion yuan (US$298 million).
Aid on the way
Telecommunications, transport routes and water supplies have all
been cut by the floods.
In Hunan Province, 62 people were reported dead and 61 missing
across 10 cities.
Back in Taizhimiao more than 50 people made homeless by the
floods are huddled in a classroom of a local primary school. Xiao
and what remains of her family are among them.
Yang, the Red Cross official, said they are being given three
meals a day and have clean water.
Hunan has sent 5 million yuan (US$604,000) to the affected
areas, along with 15 tons of rice, 300 tents and 1,000 quilts.
More aid, including medicines and food, will arrive in the
province on Monday.
A massive rain belt from Sichuan to east China's Zhejiang
Province was the main contributor to the heavy rainfall, which
began on Tuesday.
In Guizhou Province, natural calamities caused by the storms and
landslides killed 21 people, destroyed more than 5,400 homes and
led to 184 million yuan (US$22 million) in losses.
"In Songtao County, only one child survived a devastating
landslide, which swallowed two families and killed six others on
Tuesday," said the head of the provincial anti-flood and drought
relief office, who gave only his surname, Zhao.
Forecasts predict more heavy rains and storms in some regions of
the province, meaning more disasters are possible, he warned.
"The death toll could surpass last year's level because the
major flooding season lasts from June to July in Guizhou," Zhao
added.
In Sichuan Province, five people were killed and three others
trapped by flooding, said an official of Anxian County in
Mianyang.
(China Daily June 4, 2005)