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Accidents and disasters in China
ChinaPolitics

Desperate villagers in central China wade through waist-high floods to reach safety

  • Thousands said to be stranded near city of Xinxiang; at least 56 dead across Henan province
  • Rescue efforts still limited with some residents told ‘elderly and children to be saved first’

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A family walk out of the flooded village of Nanguanying near the city of Xinxiang in central China’s Henan province on Thursday. Photo: Simon Song
Amber Wangin Xinxiang, Henan
Before the devastating floods in China’s central Henan province, Dong Changwen never thought rain would become a matter of life or death.
Her one-storey home in the village of Nanguanying in Hui county, about 26km (16 miles) northwest of the city of Xinxiang, is surrounded by regularly sodden farmland that helps to feed residents.

But on Wednesday night 34-year-old Dong, who has a one-year-old son, was unable to sleep as she listened to the heavy and incessant rainfall and “stay alert” warnings broadcast on a loudspeaker by village officials.

A flooded street in Hui county near Xinxiang, central China’s Henan province, on Thursday. Photo: Simon Song
A flooded street in Hui county near Xinxiang, central China’s Henan province, on Thursday. Photo: Simon Song

At 3am water began to surge into Dong’s home, quickly reaching her ankles. Three hours later, when she and her husband grabbed their baby to get out, the world just beyond their front door had become terrifying.

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As rains ease in central China, 3 million people still struggling with effects of deadly flooding

As rains ease in central China, 3 million people still struggling with effects of deadly flooding

“The water was at my waist. I had to leave my son with a relative who has a house with two floors. It was the only way he could be safe,” Dong said. “It took me an hour to walk 200 metres out of the village, which usually takes minutes.”

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