As excavators and trucks work to clean up the river, an elderly villager recalls the night when the rainstorm happened.

AHE ALAMU Damawu Village, Mianning County, Sichuan province "I'm 85 years old and have seen many floods. But this one is the WORST I've ever seen. On the night of June 26, I heard a loud thunder and there was water everywhere. I didn't sleep all night and was afraid. Later, our village leaders told us we had to leave, and then took us to a safe place."

Ahe Alamu took us to his home, which fortunately, stands in place.

But for safety reasons, he still lives at one of the temporary shelters set up for those affected by the floods.

So far, more than 5-thousand people have been moved into these tents. Most, if not all, of the flood victims here are from the Yi ethic group.

JILEZA GAMO Dabaozi Village, Mianning County, Sichuan province "Food and accommodation is pretty convenient here. I can also get free medicine. When the government is finished cleaning up the mud at my home, I will move back."

WEI LYNN TANG Mianning County, Sichuan Province "There are over a thousand people currently living in this shelter alone. Authorities are cautious to prevent what is known as a 'double whammy' - ensuring flood victims don't also get hit by the coronavirus."

CHEN FENG Nurse, Caogu Town Health Centre Mianning County, Sichuan province "We are carrying out both disaster rescue and pandemic prevention work simultaneously. Many migrant workers who had left, have returned after hearing about this disaster. We set up this meeting point to measure their body temperature, and then quarantine them for two weeks. As for those living at this resettlement site, we test their body temperature two to three times a day."

Preventing a secondary disaster is also key.

LU ZHEN Party Secretary, Yihai Town Mianning County, Sichuan Province "The number of people at resettlement areas is very concentrated. Plus it's been raining and continues to rain every day. We are worried the number of flood victims will increase, adding pressure to resettlement sites. We are also currently getting technical teams to check on the conditions of homes if it's safe for villagers to return. In an event it's not, the government will partially subsidize them to relocate to new homes. We are also strengthening the release of early warning information when it comes to weather forecast and disaster management."

A tough road ahead for the authorities. WLT, CGTN, Mianning County, Sichuan province.