Flood-hit regions in northeast China speed up reconstruction

CHANGCHUN, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Liu Huanmao, who lives in Jifeng Village in the city of Shangzhi, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, had a lingering fear following the severe flood in the region a month ago.

"My house was toppled in the flood. I never expected that the new home would be nearly finished within one month," Liu said. With the help of government subsidies, he is building a new house on the same site and is expecting to move into it before the start of winter.

The city of Shangzhi is speeding up post-disaster restoration and reconstruction, said Zhao Yan, head of the city's emergency management department. Local authorities have checked roads, bridges, houses and power facilities hit by floodwaters for safety risks and have basically restored all roads.

Early in the morning, people in Jinshan Village in Shangzhi were repairing a road in the fields. "This gravel road is the only one here that heavy machinery responsible for crop harvesting and grain transportation can take," said villager Zhou Shikai.

In the city of Shulan, in neighboring Jilin Province, authorities had repaired over 285 km of roads and resumed shuttle buses to all affected townships by the end of August.

After the floodwaters receded, post-disaster restoration and reconstruction sped up in many flood-hit regions in China. Typhoon Doksuri and Typhoon Khanun brought severe flooding and inflicted heavy damages in these regions in early August.

Disaster relief funds should be used efficiently to repair damaged infrastructure such as transport, communications and electricity, and restore farmland and agricultural facilities, said a meeting held by the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on Aug. 17.

The meeting also highlighted the importance of the restoration of schools, hospitals and nursing homes, as well as damaged housing, to ensure the affected residents can return home or move to new homes before the arrival of winter.

Flood-hit regions in the northeast of China, the country's major grain producing area, have been speeding up the repair of agricultural infrastructure and actively guiding farmers to strengthen field management to reduce crop losses.

The provincial department of agriculture and rural affairs in Jilin Province has dispatched 13 teams to guide farmers in restoring and recovering crops damaged by the floods.

Authorities in the city of Shulan sent agricultural technicians to evaluate crop damage and determine measures required to reduce losses. "After the flood, the ability of rice crops to absorb nutrients became relatively weak, making it necessary to use foliar fertilizers to promote early ripening," said Shi Wanchun, deputy head of the agricultural technology promotion center in Shulan.

"We feel much more relieved than before after disinfecting the paddy fields and conducting multiple rounds of crop protection," said Li Xueming, a farmer in Shulan, who planted 127 hectares of rice this year.

In the city of Yushu, local agricultural technicians urged farmers to spray pesticides and foliar fertilizers on drained corn fields to minimize the impact of the flood.

"We are flying agricultural drones to spray a mixture of pesticides and fertilizers to help the corn grow better," said Yu Tie, deputy director of the Jilin seed administration station.

He Yarong, deputy director of the agricultural technology promotion service center in Yushu, has been busy in the fields recently, guiding farmers on field management. "The crops are at a critical growth period," said He.

To stabilize farmers' planting expectations for next year, authorities in the city of Shangzhi have coordinated insurance companies to simplify insurance claim procedures. Farmers will receive indemnity payments between 40 percent and 100 percent of the losses caused by damaged or destroyed crops.