Power fully restored in flood-ravaged south China county after massive emergency response

GUANGZHOU, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Huaiji County, which is administered by Zhaoqing City in south China's Guangdong Province, has essentially achieved full power restoration after floods affected 118,000 households, the Guangdong branch of China Southern Power Grid Co., Ltd. (CSG) said on Saturday.

Severe flooding has recently struck Guangdong, with Zhaoqing among the hardest-hit areas. As of noon on Wednesday, continuous heavy rainfall had affected approximately 300,000 residents of Huaiji, and about 70,000 people had been relocated to safer areas, according to local authorities.

"Power facilities in the county seat were severely damaged by the torrential rain disaster," said Li Yangpo, deputy general manager at the power supply bureau of Zhaoqing under the Guangdong branch of CSG.

The power supply company mobilized a repair force of over 4,000 personnel, deploying 67 generator trucks, nine drainage vehicles, and four drainage robots. The full-scale power restoration work commenced on the evening of Wednesday when floodwaters had receded sufficiently to permit access, Li said.

Currently, local post-disaster recovery and production resumption are progressing in an orderly manner, according to authorities. All damaged communication base stations in Huaiji have been fully restored, and pipeline gas supply has been resumed to all residential communities across the county.

The county waterworks has resumed normal operation. Although the four severely affected villages are still waiting for the full water supply restoration, temporary supplies have been in place.

The Guangdong Provincial Department of Emergency Management, together with the provincial food and strategic reserves administration, has urgently allocated about 2.37 million yuan (330,000 U.S. dollars) worth of relief supplies to disaster-affected areas. These supplies have been transported by helicopter to key flood-stricken towns and villages.

As of 9:00 a.m. Saturday, 82 street flusher trucks, 112 garbage trucks, 10 dump trucks and 73 loaders had been deployed for road dredging and debris clearance operations in the county seat.

The National Development and Reform Commission on Wednesday said that it has allocated 60 million yuan from China's central budget to bolster flood relief efforts in Guangdong.

The funds will be directed toward restoring infrastructure and public services in Guangdong's affected regions, according to the commission. ■