PERSONAL: Residents of flood-ravaged Chinese city take stock of losses, hope for compensation

Record ID: 1736792

  • Title: PERSONAL: Residents of flood-ravaged Chinese city take stock of losses, hope for compensation
  • Date: 7th August 2023
  • Summary: ZHUOZHOU, HEBEI PROVINCE, CHINA (AUGUST 7, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF LOCAL HARDWARE STORE OWNERS LI YUJIE AND ZHANG HONGWEI CLEARING DEBRIS AND DAMAGE FROM THEIR HARDWARE STORE ZHANG WALKING PAST DEBRIS LI AND ZHANG CLEANING WALKING IN AND OUT OF THEIR HARDWARE STORE MUDDY SHOVEL (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 47-YEAR-OLD ZHUOZHOU RESIDENT AND HARDWARE STORE OWNER, LI YUJIE, SAYING: “I want to cry, but tears won't come out. I felt so overwhelmed when I came back here. It’s impossible to clean up (the store).” BUCKETS FILLED WITH MUDDY WATER (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 47-YEAR-OLD ZHUOZHOU RESIDENT AND HARDWARE STORE OWNER, LI YUJIE, SAYING: REPORTER ASKING: "HOW DO YOU HOPE THE GOVERNMENT WILL HELP YOU?" LI: "I haven't thought about it yet.” / LI WIPING AWAY TEARS TRASHCAN FILLED WITH DEBRIS AND TRASH ZHANG WALKING OUT OF HIS HARDWARE STORE (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 48-YEAR-OLD ZHUOZHOU RESIDENT AND HARDWARE STORE OWNER, ZHANG HONGWEI, SAYING: "The losses are definitely significant. The place where people used to live, the food, and even the cement – pretty much all of it has been soaked by water. Also, all these items in the store, there’s no way of selling them." VARIOUS OF DEBRIS OUTSIDE OF THE HARDWARE SHOP (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 48-YEAR-OLD ZHUOZHOU RESIDENT AND HARDWARE STORE OWNER, ZHANG HONGWEI, SAYING: "If possible, please try to compensate for our losses a little bit. It's an unavoidable situation, and since things have turned out this way, we hope the government can help us as much as possible. After all, we still need to carry on with our lives. Everything we've put into this place is substantial. While not everything is completely lost, at the very least, half of our efforts have been lost." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GATHERED NEXT TO PILES OF FOOD AID NEAR THE RELIEF CAMP (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 53-YEAR-OLD ZHUOZHOU RESIDENT, GAO DONG, SAYING: "As soon as I entered the house, there was over a foot of mud. All the furniture was ruined, completely soaked by floodwater. I estimated the water level to be as high as me – I'm 180 cm (5.9 feet) tall – that's how high the water was inside the house. The yard is filled with a terrible stench, and along the way, houses have collapsed. You can even enter the surrounding roads, and we have to wade through the water to get anywhere. After so many years of hard work, it's heartbreaking. Our food is all gone, and we can't imagine how we'll be able to make ends meet." INSTANT NOODLES ON TABLE DOG NEXT TO TRASH BIN PEOPLE GATHERED NEXT TO PILES OF FOOD AID NEAR THE RELIEF CAMP
  • Embargoed: 21st August 2023 06:31
  • Keywords: China Disaster aftermath business flood loss resident water zhuozhou
  • Location: ZHUOZHOU, HEBEI PROVINCE, CHINA
  • City: ZHUOZHOU, HEBEI PROVINCE, CHINA
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Disaster/Accidents,Floods
  • Reuters ID: LVA001276307082023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: After over a week of severe flooding forced them to leave their home city of Zhuozhou in northern China, local residents Li Yujie and Zhang Hongwei returned home to find their hardware store inundated by mud and debris, rendering most of their inventory unsellable.
    “I want to cry, but tears won't come out. I felt so overwhelmed when I came back here. It’s impossible to clean up (the store),” said 47-year-old Li, while cleaning up her shop on Monday (August 7).
    Many other residents are just now returning to find their homes in a similar state of disorder in Zhuozhou, one of the cities in northern China that was hit hardest by heavy flooding in the aftermath of Typhoon Doksuri. More than 20 people have reportedly been killed in Beijing and surrounding Hebei province since the flooding began.
    Zhang, Li’s husband, said he hopes the government will provide some degree of compensation to help alleviate their losses.
    To aid the affected regions, including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Heilongjiang, and Jilin, the Chinese government has allocated an additional 350 million yuan ($48.8 million) for rescue and repair efforts on Sunday (August 6). This comes in addition to the previously allocated 170 million yuan for recovery work.
    (Production: Josh D. Arslan, Joyce Zhou)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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