In response to the disastrous floods that have created havoc across central China, a World Vision emergency team has arrived in Guang'an City of Sichuan.
The team visited Yuechi County in Guang'an City and found that the deluge plus the rain-triggered landslides and mudslides have caused widespread damages to the area. Many people have been evacuated and, with houses and farmlands destroyed, will likely be suffering very soon from acute shortages of food.
Wang Dazhen, a villager in her eighties whose house was built on the slope, has been forced to leave because of the potential dangers of landslides. She is now seeking temporary shelter with her 50-year-old son at a friend's place.
"Last year, we lost all our crops to drought and we had no income. I can hardly believe this year it's flood that swept away all our crops again!" Wang explained in tears.
World Vision has given out hygiene kits and child friendly kits to the flood-stricken victims and is planning to distribute 115,500 kg of rice to 7,700 villagers to ease the food shortage problem.
In Guang'an City, the floods have battered 175 counties, displacing 107,541 people from their own settlements. Many houses in the flooded area have either been submerged or collapsed whereas 750,000 hectares of crops have been destroyed. Destruction to school premises and facilities as well as other infrastructure is also inevitable.
Heavy rains still persisted at the time when World Vision emergency team was visiting the village for assessment. Weather forecast expected downpours and flash floods again in the coming week, posing more threats to the flood-afflicted people.
Currently, no World Vision projects in Sichuan are reported as being affected by the rainstorms.
For more information, photos or interviews please contact: Jessica Law, Communications - World Vision China.
Tel: 852-23096151//Mobile: 852-92119303//Email: jessica_law@wvi.org
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
