After the heavy rain in central China's Henan Province, the number of reported fatalities rose to 51. According to the authorities, eight people were still missing on Friday. While the clean-up work has begun in the provincial capital Zhengzhou, the rescue workers have concentrated on surrounding towns and villages, where thousands were still trapped by the floods. One of the regions particularly affected is the city of Xinxiang, where the Wei River overflowed and several retention basins were flooded. According to official information, more than five million people across the province are affected by the consequences of the flood disaster. More than 500,000 people were brought to rescue shelters.The damage to the farmers as a result of flooded fields alone is estimated at the equivalent of 700 million euros. The Ministry of Finance announced that the equivalent of 13 million euros in emergency aid would initially be provided.
Friederike Böge
Political correspondent for China, North Korea and Mongolia.
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Meanwhile, the fate of the roughly 500 subway passengers who narrowly escaped drowning on Line 5 in Zhengzhou on Tuesday evening continued to draw attention. The state operating company is confronted with the question of why the underground service was not stopped earlier. In other cities too, the emergency plans are now to be revised, especially for the subways. According to research by the newspaper Southern Weekly, the local civil protection agency declared the highest level of alert that day at 5 p.m. From 3:40 p.m. onwards, several entrances to underground stations were blocked. Operations had ceased at 6.10 p.m. At this point the 500 passengers were already stuck. Twelve people died on the subway. The last survivors were released at three in the morning.
The warning is only a "recommendation"
The newspaper also reported that some employers and schools had ignored the warnings sent by SMS because Zhengzhou, unlike other Chinese cities, had little experience of flooding. A civil protection agency employee told the newspaper that the warning was only a "recommendation". Otherwise, the meteorological department would be responsible if production stoppages occurred due to an unfounded warning, he explained. However, the report states that, according to the Disaster Control Ordinance, the authorities are instructed to close schools and factories (except for selected industries) at the highest level of alert. Some schools and kindergartens have received instructions, but others have not, Southern Weekly reported.A member of the expert commission of the national civil protection agency told China News Weekly: "The problem is that China has not yet developed clear emergency protection mechanisms for the case of extreme weather warnings." There are also no guidelines as to how different authorities should coordinate. Cheng Xiaotao said he recently attended a conference in Beijing on the subject. There have been many discussions about this, but “not yet a sophisticated approach”.he was recently in Beijing at a conference on the subject. There have been many discussions about this, but “not yet a sophisticated approach”.he was recently in Beijing at a conference on the subject. There have been many discussions about this, but “not yet a sophisticated approach”.
More than in previous floods, the question of the connection with climate change was raised in the Chinese media. Apparently, it also played a role that parallels were drawn between the situation in Germany and Henan. The Paper newspaper interviewed the climate researcher Stefan Rahmstorf from Potsdam. The state media also reported that the Chinese military had used Wing Loong-2 drones for rescue work, including repairing broken cell phone connections. The Chinese leadership often uses disaster response to propagate the solidarity between the military and the civilian population and to demonstrate technological progress.