Village in shambles after downpour

Floodwaters spilled over the ditch and cascaded through the main street village on Saturday night, washing away 66 cars, rushing into houses and shops along the street and destroying more than 100 houses in hours.

Yu's house is one of them.

"We climbed to the roof of our house with the help of my neighbors, and stayed there for four hours until the flood retreated," she said, "All of our possessions were gone."

Pi Yinping, the owner of a convenience store at the end of the main street, suffered more. More than 70 percent of her goods were washed away or damaged. And her two cars, which were swallowed by the water, cannot be driven again.

"And my computer and account books are gone, leaving me no records to collect debts," she said, adding that her shop has operated for 22 years. "My economic loss may reach 500,000 yuan ($78,000)."

But Yu still kept her smile to welcome volunteers to her tent for a break, in which there were only three beds.

"They helped us a lot and deserve our thanks," she said.

When she talked, a team of people wearing white shirts walked in. They were organized by Wang Bin, a local restaurant owner, to clean the mud on the main street. "That's what we can do, and we'll come back on Thursday," he said.

According to the local government, more than 100 volunteers have come here, bringing about 100 boxes of bottled water, food, medicines and other daily necessities.

Zhai Ruisheng, Party secretary of the village, said they planned to remove the 200 families on the mountains that may be at risk in floods. "But the investment will be a problem."

He said the focus for now is to prevent sickness. Medicines and disinfectant fluid have been distributed to every family, and the debris and mud will be removed as soon as possible.

"It will take some time, because the next rainstorm is coming," he said. "We have prepared for the coming rainfalls. Rebuilding the ruined houses will be the following issue, after we get through the rainstorms."

Yu said that when she went back to her house, and found that her preserved foods had spoiled, "I couldn't help crying. What can we do after such a time?"

Pi worried more, especially when she and her family cleaned the shop. "The cleanup may continue for a month. It's chaos in every corner of my shop as well as in my house."

Nobody was killed by the floodwaters in this hard-hit village, and residents and the local government attribute that to their ability to help each other.

"Life goes on. I'll reopen my shop," said Pi. "We'll get over it."

Ji Jin contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at zhengjinran@chinadaily.com.cn.