Many lend a hand in flood area

Five days later, Yuyao is slowly recovering from its worst storm in a century as relief materials, volunteers, health experts and technicians continue to pour into the city to help.

Heavy rainfall battered the coastal city earlier this week, paralyzing the city's transportation, cutting off its power and tap water supply and leaving 70 percent of its areas inundated in up to neck-deep floodwaters.

Following the disaster, rescue teams from across the country, organized by governments or non-governmental organizations, continued to gather in the city in northeast Zhejiang province. They brought food, clean water and other supplies and handed them out to victims.

Technicians from other parts of the country assisted Yuyao's workforce to repair the telecom services, restore the city's power and help rescue those falling ill in the aftermath of the disaster.

With the help of 2,000 electricity technicians from outside Yuyao, power in most parts is expected to be restored in two days. Some facilities damaged in the flood have been replaced, but residents will have to wait longer for power in areas where floodwaters are still deep, authorities said.

NGOs and the warm-hearted also played a part in the relief efforts.

Liu Ruiyong, the owner of an aquatic products company in nearby Ningbo, has delivered 300 kilograms of fresh vegetables and fruits to flood-hit areas since Wednesday. Another 250 kg was on the way on Friday.

"I endured many difficulties in my childhood, so I can feel what the victims are going through in this disaster," he said.

A total of 60 technicians along with 16 pump trucks reached Yuyao from Wenzhou, Xiangshan and Fujian province to drain the flood in low-lying areas, with the floodwaters in the city expected to recede significantly as soon as Saturday.

In the fifth day after Yuyao was hit by the flood, the city slowly resumed to normality.

Schools and kindergartens in Simen township resumed classes on Friday. But other schools remained closed, because safety is still the top priority for the students, education authorities said.

Almost all major hospitals in the area continued to treat patients on Friday. The city's Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital and part of Yuyao's Third People's Hospital remained shut down because of the flood.

About 250 pharmacies, 60 percent of the city's total, were open on Friday.

On Friday morning, health authorities sent more vehicles along with 64 experts and emergency workers to different areas to help prevent epidemics and test water quality at water plants.

Residents were given tips on how to prevent themselves from becoming ill in the aftermath of the disaster, including how to make an antiseptic liquid to disinfect furniture soaked by the floodwaters.

Residents could pick up free food at hundreds of settlement centers. The government said relief materials are abundant.