Hunan rains: Floods recede, but what remains of people's homes?

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By CGTN’s Yang Jinghao

Two weeks after torrential rain started battering central China’s Hunan Province, the flood waters finally begin to recede in some areas, including the provincial capital. Fears still linger, though, as residents don’t know if a new round of flooding is on its way and when they will be able to go back to their battered homes.

In a residential compound in Yuhua district of Changsha, many buildings have been inundated after water from the nearby river began to flow back to the area on Tuesday after the floods destroyed a drain valve.

The water accumulated is estimated to be about three meters deep. The residents of Yuhua have all been evacuated, but some still taking risks to rescue belongings from their flooded homes.

“I can do nothing but risk to take a few things out of the house, as living in the city is not easy for us,” a man in his 40s told CGTN.

A resident of Yuhua district, Changsha, tries to rescue belongings from his inundated home. /CGTN photo

On the other side of the Xiangjiang River that flows through the city, thousands of people from a low-lying residential community have been out of their homes now for several days. Garages have been flooded; the power supply for more than 30 buildings has also been cut off.

The situation has irritated the proprietors, who claimed that they have suffered great economic losses while their appeals have been ignored. Now rescuers are trying to drain the flood waters with pumps.

Thousands of families have been forced out of homes. /CGTN photo

In the center of the city, the landmark Orange Island Park is still waterlogged, and all the operations have been suspended.

Changsha's Orange Island Park remains closed. /CGTN photo

In rural areas, there are more scenes of widespread destruction.

Many of the self-built houses here have been submerged. Some residents, however, chose to set up tents beside the floods, to keep a close watch on their properties.

In Ningxiang County, many houses were severely damaged.

“The torrents were very violent. Two houses, a newly-built one and an old one, disappeared in an instant. It was really shocking!” said Zhong Langping, a local villager. He said that his house has also been flooded but that his family got out in time.

Zhong Langping’s house was badly damaged by the floods. /CGTN photo

Perhaps the greater pain for the Zhong's and others victims is that their farmland was covered with rubble overnight. Villagers said no crops could be expected from the fields for years.

The floods are receding. Post-disaster relief such as disease-prevention work has started. But what concerns people most, both city dwellers and those in rural areas, is their personal safety and living in a place they can call home when water is gone.

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