Devasted houses: “There is nothing left”: villagers of Beijing deprived after the floods

Returning to seek the medicines of his elderly and disabled father, Hu Yuefang only found ruins and mud. Furthermore, His house has been devastated by one of the worst floods that Beijing has experienced in recent years.

Part of northern China has been struck in recent days by torrential rains that have died at least 48 people. Therefore, forced tens of thousands of inhabitants to flee their home.

With the return of good weather in Beijing. cleaning and clearing operations began on Wednesday in the disaster areas, where water caused significant damage.

AFP journalists went to the Beijing district of Huairou, north of the Chinese capital, about 100 devasted houses: “there nothing left”: kilometers from the city center. It is one of the most affected areas.

In the village of Anzhouba, the waters had withdrawn, leaving behind a field of debris, twisted scrap and broken branches.

Hu Yuefang remembers the panicked call that she spent on Saturday evening to her 23-year-old daughter-in-law. who was then at home with Mme Hu’s parents. “Before I could finish my sentence, it cut,” she says.

She learned later that the river. about ten meters away, had overflowed with her bed and blocked the front door, making any exit impossible.

Devastated fields – Devasted houses: "there nothing left":

His daughter had to break a window to evacuate the grandparents to the balcony of a neighbor. pulling his disabled grandfather while his grandmother pushed him from the back.

“I had never seen that in 40 years of life here. Even the elders aged 80 or 90 had never seen devasted houses: “there nothing left”: anything like it, ”she says. “I came back today to recover her medicines, but everything was swept away by the waves.”

In sandals, she inspects the damage in the village, where she has always lived. It walks in the middle of the pulp of electric cables torn off, debris of broken fences and destroyed cars.

The walls of his house are covered with mud, a sign that the water has mounted over a meter. “I lived here all my life. My parents for almost 70 years, me for 40 years. I can’t resolve myself to leave, ”she says.

A small blue sofa was swept to the alley.

The family of six lives with a monthly income between 2000 and 3,000 yuan (around 226 to 339 francs), explains Mrs. Hu, a housewife whose husband is a worker.

They grow their own vegetables – beans, cucumbers, potatoes devasted houses: “there nothing left”: – but the fields have been destroyed. “It all left, swept away by the waters,” she explains.

«Inhabitable»

In the neighboring town of Liulimiao, the evacuations continue. Buses carry elderly people from their houses in the mountains.

An old lady, who preferred to keep anonymity, confides having returned home despite the ban. “When the waters arrived. no one was paying attention to us,” she deplores, adding that the flood struck “suddenly” on Saturday.

Another villager, Mr. Wang, contemplates the damage from the house he had built with the help of government grants 15 years ago. He estimates his losses at around 100. 000 yuan (nearly 1370 francs)

His wife and two daughters were at home when the waters suddenly “mounted” and again blocked the doors due to the power of the current.

The water has reached 1.5 meters in height, leaving muddy marks on the devasted houses: “there nothing left”: walls and even on the television screen. The family car, bought so that her daughter can learn to drive, was swept away by the waves.

Five more minutes and his family could have stayed there, he explains. “The water has left no one time to react,” continues Mr. Wang, crying when he explains that his house is now “uninhabitable”. “It really hurts my heart.”