Changsha Is Drowning in Flood （模拟灾难报道）
Changsha Is Drowning in FloodEnglish.news.cn 2011-10-14 12:00Changsha, October 5th 2011 (Xinhua) --Spillover of Xiang River blamed for 9 Deaths
•Flash flood sweeps through the low-lying areas along Xiang River
•Changsha City declares a state of emergencey
•The Chinese man in struggle to save citizen’s lives and properties
Heavy rains for five straight days has resulted in the spillover of Xiang River, which caused sever floods to rush through the low-lying areas along the river, leaving a trail of destruction covering a large area of Changsha.
At least 9 deaths have so far been attributed to the wide-spreading flood. Five people were killed in Yuelu District; three more died in the pedestrian mall street, including a 12-year-old girl hit by a falling billboard on the way home. And the death toll is expected to rise in the coming days due to the worsening weather.
As a government official puts it,” The rest of the country experienced the equivalent of a one-in-100-year flood. In the neighbors we are in, however, it was a one-in-500-year flood. It’s really a extremely large, destructive event.”
About 6 million people in and around Changsha are affected by electrical outrages, with more than 2 million in Changsha City already left without power. More than 150 roads were closed in the city and Huanghua Airport had cancelled all the flights within at least three days to come.
Zhang Jianfei, mayor of Changsha, has declared a state of emergency already as hundreds were told to leave their homes. “People’s lives have been turned upside down”, he said.
The biggest concern goes to the submerged Orange Isle in Xiang River, which has been one of Changsha’s major tourist attractions, where Chairman Mao once visited there and wrote a poem that later became wildly read. Orange Isle is now in complete destruction and the negative impact on the city’s future tourist industry could be numerous.
Flood was reported in four of the total five boroughs of Changsha, with Yuelu District and Furong District hardest hit and roads washed out completely. The government estimated the damage from the flood could reach billions of yuan in total.
The Chinese Liberation Army came to rescue at the first moment by trying to block off the breach of the river with sandbags and their bodies, saving people stranded in water-around areas as well as putting up tents and temporary huts for the homeless.
Premier Wen Jiaobao has declared the flood in Changsha a “major disaster” and freeing relief funds of 50 million yuan used for temporary housing and home repairs. The flood looks set to be one of the most costly disasters to hit China this year.
——E0907梁恋
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