Appeal Number: #6528
Appeal Amount: $55,000
SITUATION: Torrential rains from late May until early June have triggered flooding which has turned vast areas of southern China into muddy lakes, razed mountain villages and destroyed more than 76,000 housing units. Earlier, heavy rains in April had lashed provinces/municipalities across southern China including Hunan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces.
As of June 6, more than 17 million people had been affected by floods, including many who lost their homes or were forced to flee the flooded areas. At least 200 people have died.
According to China's Meteorological Bureau, strong rainfall is expected to pound the Yangtze River, China's longest river, in the coming ten days triggering more floods and landslides. The usual rainy season for the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River will follow immediately after. Local authorities across the country have been ordered to mobilize resources to battle the floods and ensure major rivers and reservoirs are not breached.
RESPONSE: The Amity Foundation, a long-time CWS partner, is planning to assist the most vulnerable people affected by the flooding in Xinshao, Lianyuan, Anhua and Xinhua counties in Hunan Province and Qingzhen counties in Guizhou Province. These locations have been selected because they are the areas worst affected by the flooding.
Xinshao county in particular has been the most severely hit - where the worst mountain torrents in local history have left scores dead and thousands homeless.
Amity is assisting by providing medicines against water borne diseases, as well as food, rice, quilts, mosquito nets, reconstruction materials for 400 houses and six schools and assisting in the reconstruction of 5,000 metres of irrigation canals. The completion date is expected to be June 30, 2006.
Specifically, Amity is providing assistance to 5,000 families -- some 20,000 people: vulnerable men and women, children and the elderly. Among those assisted: those rendered homeless by the floods; evacuated families - families whose houses had collapsed or were so badly damaged they were uninhabitable were evacuated by the local authorities; and families that have lost at least two-thirds of their total crops.
The response includes providing medicine against water-borne diseases; providing 15 kilos of food rice to 10,000 individuals in about 2,500 homeless, evacuated and severely affected families; to provide one quilt each to 2,000 families; providing one mosquito net each to 2,000 families; assisting in the rebuilding of 400 houses for 400 families; assistance to rebuild 6 school buildings; reconstruction of 5,000 meters of irrigation canals.
Budget includes: Crisis phase: medicines: $3,632; rice: $45,400; quilts: $24,213; mosquito net sheet: $9,685. Rehabilitation phase: houses $242,131; schools: $108,959; irrigation canals: $36,320.
Contributions to support these efforts may be sent to your denomination or directly to:
Church World Service
China Floods #6528 (#ASCN-52)
P.O. Box 968
Elkhart, IN 46515
Contributions may also be made by credit card by calling: (800) 297-1516, ext. 222, or online at www.churchworldservice.org.
Please contact the CWS Emergency Response Program if you would like a more detailed appeal description.
For further information about disasters to which Church World Service is responding please visit www.churchworldservice.org or call the CWS Hotline, (800) 297-1516..