Continuous downpours since early July have caused widespread damages to the villages and townships in Anhui. In response to the devastating floods, a World Vision China Humanitarian Emergency Affairs assessment team arrived in the hardest hit Shou County and Fengtai County in the province on July 26 and July 27.

The team of four visited several villages by boat carrying with them emergency relief supplies as well as child-friendly kits, as the prolonged heavy rainfalls have literally turned all land space into a big sea. Many houses and almost all farmlands have been submerged. According to estimates, it will take more than two months' time before the floodwater subsides. People will soon face food shortage problems after September when they run out of their existing food stocks.

Seeing villagers' urgent need for food grains, World Vision plans to appeal to the Hong Kong SAR Government for funding for 1,047,000 kg of rice to approximately 69,800 people in the two counties.

Zhang Ziyou, 58, lives in Wapu Township in Shou County. He and his family of seven have become bound by the massive floodwater for more than two weeks.

"All my 10 mu of farmlands have been inundated and my crops are all ruined. Soon we are going to face food shortage for at least 6 months," Zhang anxiously told World Vision staff in his little sanpan, his only method to move around in the floodwater.

Torrential rains have been affecting the county since the start of the month, with the most concentrated rainfalls during July 7-9. Located in Shou County, the second largest lake in Anhui, Wapu Lake, is now 3.83 meters over its alert level. More than 506,000 people in 25 townships are affected, and among them 83,900 people have been evacuated to safety.

The non-stop heavy rains have also wreaked havoc in Fengtai County where large volume of rainfalls has caused river levels to exceed 1.64 meters over the alert level. To make things worse, a dyke that was built to keep floodwater from the low-lying areas in Qianmiao Township was broken on July 19, resulting in the surrounding villages being completely submerged. Over 215,000 people are affected and around 16,733 hectares of farmlands have been inundated, of which 80% of crops are reported totally lost. It is estimated that 9,476 houserooms have collapsed and 33,000 others are damaged in the whole county. Estimated economic losses reach US $42.8 million.

As many houses were poorly built and the floodwater has further weakened their structures, more houses are expected to collapse after the water subsides. Cracks are already seen on the outer walls of some houses. World Vision therefore also plans to rebuild houses and school premises for the flood-affected populations during the rehabilitation stage.

China has been suffering from severe floods since the beginning of summer this year. World Vision China is currently working in 6 locations in 4 affected provinces, namely Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan and Sichuan, distributing 1,075,875 kg of rice with a total of 71,725 beneficiaries.

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