Fuyang eyes normality as flood ebbs

With the waning of rainfall and flooding, local authorities in the Fuyang district of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Monday are undertaking disinfection and sterilization measures to ensure the safety of drinking water and the environment, as they strive to restore normality in the flood-hit area as soon as possible.

Five people so far have been confirmed dead and three others are still missing after a heavy downpour hit a mountainous area in Fuyang from Saturday evening to Sunday morning, triggering floods in local villages.

"We came here on Sunday morning to carry out the disinfection and real-time monitoring of drinking water, and the local community public health service center has begun using repellents to eradicate flies and mosquitoes," said He Yong, director of the Fuyang center for disease control, on Monday.

According to the flood control and drought relief headquarters in Fuyang, by Sunday afternoon, heavy rainfall had triggered 32 flash floods and 144 geological disasters in the district.

At least 26 houses collapsed or were damaged during the two-day rainfall. Power supply to 1,619 households was disrupted, and 21 roads were blocked.

The downpour also disrupted 27 local telecom base stations and damaged 11.7 kilometers of cables, leaving over 1,800 households in Fuyang disconnected from broadband and mobile phone communications.

The local China Telecom branch organized five teams to restore base stations, ensuring basic communication in the area.

"I've never witnessed such a heavy rain in my life. My home was flooded with rainwater within 20 minutes once the rainfall began," recalled 87-year-old Fang Songran, a farmer who lives in Juren village of Dayuan town, one of the hardest-hit areas.

From noon to 7 pm on Saturday, Hangzhou witnessed a heavy downpour of 21 millimeters of rain. Fuyang was the most severely hit district, with its Dayuan town inundated with rainfall of 20.2 centimeters during the period, according to the provincial meteorological observatory.

Liu Jie, Party chief of Hangzhou, went to Fuyang on Sunday to check the flood-hit areas.

He called for the resumption of daily life as quickly as possible and for greater efforts to be made by disaster relief and rescue workers.

"Hangzhou is currently witnessing strong, frequent rainfall coupled with strong convection weather events. Authorities should enhance weather forecasts and alerts and relocate people in potentially dangerous areas to minimize losses caused by the disaster," he said.

Currently, more than 6,000 rescuers have joined the search and rescue work, and a total of 1,536 people in disaster-hit areas have been evacuated.