China - 1/06

Floods hit China

Geneva, 21 July 2006—Since 14 July, torrential floods from Tropical Storm Bilis have been affecting parts of southern China. The Xinhua News Agency, reporting on ReliefWeb, said that as of 20 July, the death toll had risen to 228. The news agency, quoting the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said 26.45 million people have been affected in the country’s southern and eastern provinces.

The floods, caused by heavy and long-lasting rainfalls, have hit Hunan, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Zhejiang, Jiangxi provinces. Some parts of these provinces were still reeling from earlier flooding and storms in late May and June. The latest floods have led to landslides, mud-rock flows and serious casualties.

According to China’s National Natural Disaster Reduction Committee Office, as of 17 July, 2.203 million people had been evacuated from their homes. In terms of material damage, 0.91 million hectares of crops had been damaged, with 0.16 million hectares of totally lost, 175,000 houses destroyed, and 113,000 houses collapsed.

Highways and railway lines have been damaged and flooded, disrupting transportation. Streets in Shaoguang in Guangdong Province have been flooded, with some residences submerged to the third floor. The two largest hospitals in Shaoguang have been flooded.

Additional flooding in areas that were flooded earlier is making relief and rehabilitation work difficult.

China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs began responding in the hardest-hit areas on 15 July and has expanded its response to other areas since then.

The affected areas were expected to be hit by a heat wave in the coming days as the storms subside.

The ACT member in China, The Amity Foundation, is planning to work with its local partners in Hunan and Guangxi to provide emergency assistance such as food, drinking water, clothing, tents, mosquito nets and medicines in the crisis phase. Following the initial response, Amity plans to assist affected people in reconstructing roads, repairing damaged houses and rebuilding schools and other buildings.

The Amity Foundation is preparing a proposal for an appeal to submit to the ACT Coordinating Office.