Netizens brainstorm on rainstorm survival skills

BEIJING - After the Chinese capital suffered the worst downpour in 61 years on Saturday, it would appear that the city's residents should equip themselves with skills and hammers to survive such treacherous weather.

The downpour left at least 37 people dead, including a 34-year-old man who failed to escape his car that was submerged in floodwater.

Rescuers later found he had fractured his skull, most possibly, when unsuccessfully attempting to crack the car's window with his head, according to media reports.

The man's death triggered online discussions about how to escape a car in such a situation.

Some of Beijing's residents created and then posted online a map marking the dangerous roads and spots, warning people against driving in these areas.

Videos and pictures have sprung up on the Internet to equip residents with survival skills. On Sina's Weibo.com, a popular microblogging site in China, nearly 2.3 million results were found when searching the key words "car survival."

Many posts suggested people keep an emergency hammer or scissors in their cars.

Since the deadly rainstorm, emergency hammers have become in high demand on major online stores such as Taobao and 360buy. On e-commerce giant Taobao.com, car hammers sales surged by 598 percent year-on-year, while the search volume for life-saving hammers saw a 17-fold increase.

Many stores on Taobao have run out of life-saving devices. Some sellers said such goods could be delivered August 10 at the earliest.

Beijing residents are the main customers, with more than 1,080 people having bought hammers on Taobao from Saturday to Monday, said Zhou Yulei from Taobao's public relation department in a Wednesday report published on Caijing.com.cn.

"I hope I don't need to use the hammer, but ensuring that I have one is the responsible thing to do for my family and myself," said a man surnamed Li, who works in a college in eastern Beijing. He bought a hammer after he heard of the man drowning in the car.

"The public's discussion of survival skills is good, which indicates people's enhanced safety awareness," said Prof. Zhou Xiaozheng, a sociologist with the People's University of China.

"But to popularize self-saving knowledge among the people and give everyone more opportunities to survive in disasters is the government's duty to the public," said Zhou, adding that people should not rely on gossip posted online.

Many Internet users also questioned the feasibility of certain survival skills such as breaking out of a trapped car through its boot.

Torrential rains have ravaged 22 provincial-level regions in China since July 20, leaving 111 dead and another 47 missing, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Tuesday.

The heavy rains also have driven more insurance companies to stop car insurance concerning water damage, which had not been regarded as a must in a place like Beijing, which is noted for its dry weather.

A telephone operator surnamed Zhang of the China Pacific Insurance Co, Ltd said she had been busy receiving consultation on water-incurred engine damage recently.

According to figures from the Beijing branch of China Insurance Regulatory Commission, auto insurance companies in Beijing received 27,459 indemnity claims in three days, with an appraisal of damage of 220 million yuan (about $34.4 million).