Farmers rue losses from devastating flooding

Serious efforts

According to a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee in Beijing on Friday, while carrying out flood control and disaster relief efforts, authorities should also carefully plan reconstruction work to restore production and help people return to normal life as soon as possible. Serious efforts must be made to assist poor, flood-affected residents so that they do not fall back into poverty.

Zhang Yongyong, 51, from Longkou village, Poyang, is still living at home even though the village is engulfed by flooding, with rice fields under water up to 5 meters deep.

The flooding cut electricity and water supplies to the village, where about 300 people have decided to remain. Some villagers have been unable to contact their family members after floodwaters damaged telecommunications equipment. Longkou can only be reached by boat.

Since 2015, Zhang has rented about 20 hectares of land in the village to plant rice. This year, all his fields have been flooded, resulting in a loss of about 410,000 yuan and leaving the family 150,000 yuan in debt.

Zhang said each hectare can produce 13,500 kilograms of rice, which last year sold for 2.05 yuan per kg. He said that if there had been no flooding this year, he would have been able to make about 550,000 yuan. Much of his farming equipment, which has been left in the fields, will need repairing.

He said his wife, scared by the flooding and worried about the family's losses, was unable to sleep or eat well for several days. "I told her not to fret over the losses, as the flooding will eventually subside and we will be able to plant rice again," he said.

When he agreed to rent the land, Zhang said he had taken the possibility of flooding into consideration, so that when the waters arrived, he was well prepared mentally.

After water levels started to drop on Thursday, he cleaned the floor of his house and some personal belongings.

He even found time to smile as he discussed his losses, saying that flooding is not unusual in villages near Poyang Lake, but in the past it has only lasted two or three days. This year, the severity of the situation has caught residents by surprise.

"Planting rice is not suitable work for those who fear the floods," he said.

When the lake flooded the village on July 8, Zhang, who was working in his rice field, jumped on a tricycle to reach his house, which stands on high land.

"I only know how to plant rice, so I will continue doing this. In my experience, the waters will subside late next month. I will clear sand and stones from my field in the following months. Although this will take time and money, I need to prepare well for planting next year," he said.

By 10 am on Saturday, the water in Poyang Lake had dropped to 21.8 meters, still 2.8 meters above the warning level.

Although the water has continued to fall, the flood risk remains at the highest level, as more heavy rain is forecast for Jiangxi, according to the lake's hydrology bureau.

One thing remains clear, the locals' battle against the flooding is far from over.