Government and Policy

Spring thaw poses flood threat

By Cui Jia (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-13 07:09

The roads to Wuxuete in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region are lined with 3-m-high walls of snow, while large parts of the village have also been buried after a series of heavy snowstorms. FENG YONGBIN/CHINA DAILY PHOTOS

Clear from danger

In Tuoli, a town close to Wuxuete, 10-year-old Umurguli was playing happily with other children in the gym. Her family was among the many evacuated from Ahebiedou village after their homes were destroyed by floodwaters on March 18.

"I don't want to go back to my village because the food they (the local government) give us here is much better than my mother's home cooking," said the girl as she slurped her bowl of noodle soup. "Also, we don't have a home to go back to."

Above top: Wu Xiuli, who is in her 60s, walks through what is left of her grain supplies in Ahebiedou village, Tuoli county. Her storage shed was destroyed by floods, leaving her corn to go rotten in muddy water. Above bottom: Residents in Wuxuete village watch as a digger clears snow and makes trenches in preparation for the coming floods.

Authorities in Tuoli county have so far temporarily relocated more than 5,100 villagers, many of whom have been made homeless by the floods. Officials told China Daily the number of evacuees will likely rise as the snow continues to melt.

Unlike Umurguli's family, some farmers in Ahebiedou are refusing to leave their homes. One of them is Halimbek, 45, who now lives with his wife and two children in a tent provided by the county government in the front yard of their collapsed home.

"I've never seen snow and floods like this. It's the worst I've ever seen," he said. "I used to think my adobe house was strong enough but now I really need to build a brick one. We cannot afford it, though. All my money was needed to survive the harsh winter, such as buying coal for the fire and food for my animals."

Nearby, Wu Xiuli, a villager in her 60s, was busy trying to salvage healthy corn from a mountain of largely rotten grains. The floods destroyed her storage shed, leaving her harvest to soak in muddy water.

"I lost about 95 percent of my corn - that's about 60,000 yuan. I've lost my will to live," said Wu, who still lives in her house, although she was asked to move out due to the flood danger. The logs that support the roof of her home are already warped, while the walls have lost any use they might have had in keeping out water. "Everything I own is in this house. I don't want to lose everything, so I am not going anywhere," she said.

Every household in Erdaoqiao village in Emin county, Tacheng, had to be moved 5 km away last month when 95 percent of homes were wiped out by floods caused by melting snow.

"When a local official told me to leave my house because a flood was coming, I didn't believe it because it never happened here before. My father has lived in this village all his life and he has never experienced it either," said farmer Jeyat Muhyet, 30. "But it did come and my house collapsed right in front of my eyes within minutes."

The worst floods have yet to come, however, and some people believe the real test will come in June when the mountain snow begins to melt.

"I am expecting far more floods. This one is just a warning considering the amount of snow we had this year," said Muhyet.