China releases post-disaster reconstruction plan for flood-hit Henan

BEIJING -- China's State Council has approved an overall plan for recovery and reconstruction work in flood-hit regions in Central China's Henan province after torrential rains in July last year caused heavy casualties and property losses.

The plan aims to basically finish the restoration of water conservancy projects, repair damaged houses and reconstruct self-built houses by rural residents following a year's work.

By then, basic infrastructure for areas including transportation, energy and communications, as well as medical care services should be basically restored to pre-disaster levels.

After three years, the reconstruction task should be fully completed, with a significant increase in the capacity to prevent and reduce disasters and the living conditions, social and economic development fully recovered to surpass pre-disaster levels, according to the plan for the 2021-2024 period.

It specified major targets and timetables for tasks in areas including residential housing, infrastructure, urban waterlogging management, public services and emergency response management.

Torrential rains hit the Henan province from July 17 to 23 and affected over 14.79 million people in 150 county-level areas. A total of 398 people died or went missing due to the disaster.