Flood Victims Get Food and ClothingThe family of Tan Chengfa, a peasant in northwest China's Shaanxi Province which has suffered from devastating floods and subsequent mudslides recently, were treated by the local government to a lunch of rice, porridge, pickles and sausage Wednesday.Tan's hometown of Ziyang in Ankang Prefecture was the worst hit by floods triggered by rainstorms from July 11 to 14, with 202 deaths reported. Tan lost his house and all his property and his family of six now live in the village school. Altogether, 4,000 houses were destroyed and extensive damage was done to transportation routes and communications lines as well as water control facilities. Of the 970,000 people affected by the floods since June, more than 270 were killed and 30,000 were left homeless. Like Tan, others in the disaster-struck region have been given shelter, 15 kilograms of grain each, cookers, quilts, clothing and medicine by the local government. A total 25 tons of rice and 20 tons of flour together with 200, 000 cookers have been provided, government sources reported. The local disaster-relief department has announced a plan to reconstruct the town as soon as possible so that production in the area can resume. The area has so far received donations of more than 600,000 yuan (72,000 U.S. dollars) and goods valued at more than 1.1 million yuan (133,000 U.S. dollars) from around China, the sources said. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |