The Latest Disaster Situation
As the rainy season started in May,
continuous heavy rains hit the areas along Yangtze River and Huai River
and caused serious flooding. According to the RCSC's update on 10 July,
the floods have already claimed 261 lives and affected some 120 million
people in 11 provinces, namely Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Henan,
Guangxi, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Chongqing and Guizhou.
About 1.97 million people were relocated urgently and some 1.47 million houses collapsed or were damaged. Approximately, 5.22 million hectares of farmland were destroyed. The direct economic loss is estimated to be RMB 32.4 billion.Some 2 million people were displaced due to the flooding.
The Red Cross Actions
The Red Cross responds quickly and renders relief to these victims. By now, the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) has sent out some 380 mobile medical teams which have treated 13,000 people free-of-charge. The Headquarters of the RCSC has also allocated RMB 800,000 from its emergency fund to support relief operations in Anhui, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi and Yunnan, and sent out an assessment team to Jiangsu and Anhui for further needs assessment.
The Hong Kong Red Cross has made a donation of RMB200,000 in cash to support emergency relief operations in Anhui and Henan. In addition, relief materials donated earlier, including some 300 tents, 5000 quilts and 4600 pieces of clothing, of RMB 1.08 million worth, are ready for distribution in the flood-affected Anhui, Hunan and Sichuan provinces. The relief actions of other local Red Cross branches include:
Anhui
In this most affected province, the local Red Cross is distributing relief materials like tents, canned food and water purification tablets with a total value of RMB 0.5 million.
Jiangsu
The Jiangsu Red Cross is also distributing medicines and tents, of RMB 375,000 worth, to 5 most affected prefectures to help prevent outbreak of water-borne epidemics.
Hunan
In Hunan, where the earliest flooding occurred, the local Red Cross has been distributing relief materials of RMB 890,000 worth to 9 affected prefectures since June.
Enquiry
The Hong Kong Red Cross is keeping close contact with the RCSC assessment team to continue to monitor the development of the disaster, while further actions will be decided accordingly. For public enquiry, please call 2507-7134, or email to irsd@redcross.org.hk