One World Vision project area affected, but all sponsored children reported safe.

July 16, 2007

By Jessica Law and Michelle Tam - World Vision China Communications

Continuous monsoon rains have triggered massive flooding and mudslides, affecting 35 million people across southern and central China during the past month.

Team Dispatched to Sichuan Province

This week, a World Vision emergency relief team was dispatched to hard-hit Sichuan province, where the Huai River overflowed its banks to affect 12 million people. Water levels remain alarmingly high, despite signs that they are subsiding.

Our staff is delivering desperately needed emergency relief supplies to the region this week, including materials for children, such as crayons, coloring books and small toys. These items are designed to help address the children's psychosocial needs, since children are often deeply distressed in the aftermath of a disaster.

According to China's Ministry of Civil Affairs, 403 people have died as result of the rainy season in 2007, 105 people are still missing and nearly 3.2 million people have been evacuated. In addition, 300,000 homes have collapsed, and more than 13.6 million acres of farmlands have been destroyed by the storms.

A Busy Month

Since June, World Vision has assisted 105,500 survivors of a major earthquake in southern China, as well as those affected by the monsoon. We have distributed emergency aid to hard-hit Hunan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, as well as the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. So far, we have delivered to these regions the following emergency provisions:

• More than 2.2 million pounds of rice
• 4,650 blankets
• 635 tents for temporary shelter

  No Sponsored Children Affected

Prolonged, heavy rainfall hit Duan County in the Guangxi region last month; World Vision donors in Hong Kong support the Duan sponsorship area. Two project townships were affected, but no sponsored children were injured. No other World Vision sponsorship community has reported being adversely affected by the recent storms.

World Vision provided tents for temporary shelter to flood-affected villagers and distributed food grains to 8,580 people in Guizhou province, following extensive needs assessments. We are also helping to reconstruct 2,000 homes in the hardest-hit areas.

Food Supplies Washed Away

"Many houses were destroyed, or even collapsed," said Dr. Thomas S.T. Chan, World Vision's national director in China, after wading across submerged roads and fields to view the damages first-hand in Guizhou province, where landslides severely damaged bridges and roads. "Farms are submerged and much of the villagers' food was washed away; they were worried about food supply in the coming months."

Wu Deming, 39, and his brother lived side-by-side in a Sansui County village. His family of three and his brother's family lost their homes to flash floods on June 8.

'Very Scared'

"We were very scared, as we've never seen such heavy rains!" Deming explained to Chan and assessment team members. "We were not able to secure anything. Our storage of food was gone, and our farmland was submerged. I'm worried [whether] our family will have food."

Deming suffered a facial injury while running from the flood; fortunately, no other family members sustained injuries. The brothers' families are now temporarily living with neighbors.

World Vision China is working with the local governments to meet the needs of devastated survivors. China's Ministry of Affairs has declared a Category IV response to the recent disaster -- the country's highest disaster response level. "The flood-affected people need our help," Chan concluded.

China's economic losses from the storms are estimated now to be at $4.12 billion.