150 route de Ferney, P.O. Box 2100 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland Tel: 41 22 791 6033 Fax: 41 22 791 6506 e-mail: [email protected] Appeal Coordinating Office China Flood Relief in Guangxi Province - ASCN12 Appeal Target: US$ 139,306 Balance requested from ACT Network: US$ 114,306 Geneva, August 28, 2001 Dear Colleagues, Due to the effect of typhoons Liulian and Youte, large parts of Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan Provinces in China were severely hit by continuous violent torrential rains from 1 to 4 July 2001, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region being the most seriously affected. On 8 July, the embankment of the Yue river - which is one of the major rivers that runs across Guangxi - was cut apart for about 20 meters. Flood water in the river dashed out to form a sea of water, inundating highways, railways, and a city nearby. Yong river - which is another major river that runs across Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi - had its water 5 meters above the safety level for about a week, and was 6 to 8 meters higher than the roads and streets outside its embankment. Flooding is now over, and so is the water logging in most of the affected areas in mountain. However, its impact on human life and property is far from being over. According to the official reports nine persons were killed, the affected population is more than ten million, 621,000 hectares of crops are affected and 49,800 units of houses are destroyed. ACT Member, The Amity Foundation, proposes relief assistance to help meet the basic needs of the 2,501 families that have suffered serious loss of property, houses, and farm crops in Rongsang and Naman Townships - which are among the worst hit townships - as follows: • Food assistance: Rice for two months • Non food assistance: quilts and mosquito nets • Housing for 68 families ACT is a worldwide network of churches and related agencies meeting human need through coordinated emergency response. The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland. Flood Relief in Guangxy Province, China 2 Appeal No. ASCN12 Project Completion Date: 30 June, 2002 Summary of Appeal Targets, Pledges/Contributions Received and Balance Requested US$ Total Appeal Target(s) 139,306 Less: Pledges/Contr. Recd. 25,000 Balance Requested from ACT Network 114,306 Please kindly send your contributions to the following ACT bank account: Account Number - 102539/0.01.061 (USD) Account Name: ACT - Action by Churches Together Banque Edouard Constant Cours de Rive 11 Case postale 3754 1211 Genève 3 SWITZERLAND Please also inform the Finance Officer Jessie Kgoroeadira (direct tel. +4122/791.60.38, e-mail address [email protected]) of all pledges/contributions and transfers, including funds sent direct to the implementers, now that the Pledge Form is no longer attached to the Appeal. We would appreciate being informed of any intent to submit applications for EU, USAID and/or other back donor funding and the subsequent results. We thank you in advance for your kind cooperation. For further information please contact: ACT Co-ordinator, Thor-Arne Prois (phone +41 22 791 6033 or mobile phone + 41 79 203 6055) or ACT Appeals Officer, Mieke Weeda (phone +41 22 791 6035 or mobile phone +41 79 285 2916) ACT Web Site address: http://www.act-intl.org Ms. Geneviève Jacques Thor-Arne Prois Rev. Rudolf Hinz Director ACT Coordinator Director WCC/Cluster on Relations LWF/World Service Flood Relief in Guangxy Province, China 3 Appeal No. ASCN12 I. REQUESTING ACT MEMBER ♣ Amity Foundation II. IMPLEMENTING ACT MEMBER & PARTNER INFORMATION The Amity Foundation is a church related relief and development organisation aiming at promoting health, education, social services projects. It also aims at emergency relief and rehabilitation programs in time of disasters. Amity is legally registered as a non-profitable organisation. It has been serving society and the people in China for the last 16 years. Amity has been engaged in relief work for the past 15 years. It has established a nation wide relief network through its local partners and local churches. It handles 3 to 4 emergencies in a year. In major disasters, it starts with emergency assistance for 2 or 4 months followed by rehabilitation programs for a period of 1 or 2 years. When there is a need, and when resources are available, it also implements disaster mitigation and disaster prevention programs in an attempt to prevent or reduce the destruction of disasters and to help promote sustainable development of the target communities. Amity does its work in close collaboration with its local partners. Amity will implement its relief programs in close collaboration with Overseas Friendship Association. Overseas Friendship Association is a people’s organisation strongly supported by the Chinese government. It aims at promoting friendship and co-operation between Chinese people and people overseas. Overseas Friendship Association has been a close partner of Amity in the fields of relief, rural development and back to school project for the past 10 years. In 1991, when Guangxi was hit by a serious flood, it worked with Amity in close partnership for emergency assistance and rehabilitation in many counties in Guangxi Autonomous Region. Over the years, it has gained itself many experiences in relief and development work. Amity will also work in close collaboration with the local governments. The county government is to provide the office for the staff from the Overseas Friendship Association who will work for Amity’s project. It will provide salaries and communication facilities for these staff as well. And it will offer vehicles for project staff to travel to target areas. For rebuilding of civilian houses, the county government is to contribute one third of the project fund. It shares duties, responsibilities and risks together with Amity and the association and it co-ordinates related government departments, townships and villages to see to it that the association can carry out their work smoothly. III. DESCRIPTION OF EMERGENCY SITUATION Background Information Due to the effect of typhoons named Liulian and Youte, large parts of Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces were severely hit by continuous violent torrential rains from 1 to 4 July 2001. Being located in low-lying areas, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is the most seriously affected. Besides large numbers of mud and land-slides, torrents of water from Guizhou and Yunnan rushed into Guangxi to join the wild floods and forming serious water logging. As a result, large areas have been covered in flooding waters. Meanwhile, water in lakes and rivers rose rapidly above the safety levels, or overflowed the embankments flooding the roads and fields. Flood Relief in Guangxy Province, China 4 Appeal No. ASCN12 On 8 July, the embankment of the Yue river - which is one of the major rivers that runs across Guangxi - was broken apart for about 20 meters. Water from the river flowed out and formed a sea of water. Highways, railways, and a city nearby were flooded all at once. 200,000 people including thousands of army men were sent in an attempt to block up the break. Meanwhile, the water in the Yong river - which is another major river that runs across Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi - remained 5 meters above the safety level for about a week. Outside its embankment,the level of water is 6 to 8 meters higher than the roads and streets. Another 200,000 people including 17,000 army men were mobilised to heighten and protect the Yong river embankment vital to the capital city of Guangxi. The army men and the civilian people remained on the embankment for another 8 days to watch for and to fight against possible potential dangers. Current Situation Now the flooding is over, and so is the water logging in most of the affected areas in mountains. However, its impact on human life and property is far from being over. (See Annex - Baise People after Flooding - for detailed information about the current situation of the many of the affected victims). Impact On Human Lives The rainstorms and ensuing water logging are said to be the most serious since 1968. They have caused a great impact on human life and property. This is particularly the case for the victimised mountaineers. With the serious water logging rapidly formed in the mountains, many mountaineers had to evacuate from their houses in a rush. They hardly had time to take things with them. Now many of them do not have proper shelter, they have no food rice, and they need quilts, blankets, mosquito nets and other life necessities. In the meantime, mud and land-slides have damaged many parts of roads in the mountains and smooth terrain areas. Many of them are yet to be repaired or reconstructed. As far as long term is concerned, the affected mountaineers are confronting huge problems. Most of the food crops, which were about to be harvested in the summer, have been lost through the flooding. The affected victims will be in short supply of food rice for 4 months in the latter half of the year. On the other hand, the areas downstream of the Guangdong river, had also been hit by heavy rains. As a result the rainwater that was being held up in Guangxi could not be drained in a very short period. As the water logging continued, thousands of mud and wood houses either collapsed or were seriously damaged, and all the furniture and properties inside rotted. It is almost impossible for a poor family that lives in the mountains to rebuild a new house and to recover everything without external support.