Makeshift houses nearly ready for flood victims

The last of the makeshift homes being built for residents who lost their houses in the July 21 floods will be completed by Monday, and 41 families have already moved in.

"The rains off and on after the storm on July 21 have jeopardized our construction process a little. But people have been working around the clock in recent days, making sure all the temporary houses are finished before Monday, as scheduled," said Liu Haiqi, a publicity official with Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

"The last site will be thoroughly checked on Sunday night and the construction will be finished on time," said Guo Haigang, an official from Beijing Construction Engineering Group, one of two construction companies working on the project.

Chen Lu, an official from Beijing Urban Construction Group, said that their work will be finished before Monday as well.

The July 21 storm, bringing the heaviest rainfall in the capital in 61 years, triggered flooding and landslides, and caused 78 deaths, of which 43 were in Fangshan district. More than 7,200 houses were washed away by floodwater, leaving thousands of residents living in temporary tents, especially in Fangshan district which was hard-hit because it is mountainous.

The construction companies started building 5,626 temporary houses five days after the storm in the 44 sites in Fangshan that were selected by experts for safety reasons.

"Supporting facilities such as electricity and drinking water have been set up in these sites. The last site will be equipped with them as soon as it passes the check at night," Guo said, adding that many residents have already moved in.

"I hope I can move in immediately," said Chen Li, 41, from Beicheying village, whose house was destroyed by the flood. "But I don't know how to apply for the housing, since no details about the application have been released from the authority of our village yet."

"I don't want to live in the hot, damp tents anymore," he said.

Shen Yinping, another resident at the village, had her shop flooded, forcing her whole family to live in a small room on the second floor.

"Though we have rooms to live in, better than the others, it's not enough for my family. Three of them are sleeping on the floor," she said. "If possible, I want to have one unit as well."

Gao Zhuang, an official of this village, said they are working out a plan to distribute these limited makeshift homes, but admitted: "There is no easy solution."

About 289 houses were destroyed in the village during the storm. "But we only have 300 temporary houses, accommodating 600 people at most, not enough for all our villagers whose houses were damaged," Gao said. "So the families who suffered the most severe damage will get priority to have these units."

Zhai Ruisheng, Party chief of the village, said they planned to borrow several units from the neighboring village if they have extra makeshift housing.

The families eligible for the housing will be selected according to inspections of housing damage after the storm. "No application will be needed, and these families can move in before Thursday," Gao said.

People will live in the temporary housing for three months while they repair their houses or three years while they finish building new houses.

During the torrential rains, many areas, including downtown Beijing, witnessed traffic chaos in some low-lying areas. A driver drowned in deep water at an underpass at Guangqumen in downtown Dongcheng district.

To prevent such cases, monitors will be installed at underpasses and expressway sections that are below ground level to update data, such as depth of the water. Alarms and advice will be issued on traffic flow, said Zhang Shusen, deputy director of Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport.

The Beijing Traffic Management Bureau has marked warning labels to indicate water levels in case of rain on 133 underpasses and road sections that are prone to standing water.

Wang Xiaodong contributed to this story.

zhengjinran@chinadaily.com.cn