In the cold winter, Shi Rongguang and his wife moved into their new house in Feng Nanyuan Village, Linfen City, north China’s Shanxi Province.
Many villagers in Linfen have also moved into their new houses. From late September to early October, Linfen suffered the strongest continuous heavy rainfall on record, with a large number of houses collapsed or severely damaged while roads and farmland flooded.
Fortunately, a battle to reconstruct and repair those rural houses damaged by the disaster was in full swing. In less than two months, new houses with all necessary facilities were gradually completed, and many affected farmers moved to new homes to start a new life. By December 21, the local government had already reconstructed 15,946 houses.
Shi used to live in a cave-dwelling covered with sponge-like loess. Continuous rainfall led to the accumulation of water in the loess, and the dwelling cave could no longer bear the pressure. After being identified by the government, Shi’s cave-dwelling was rebuilt. The old couple went to the construction site every day and offered all the help they could.
To prevent poverty relief households from returning to poverty due to disasters, the government provided them with furniture, food, and other daily necessities.
The old couple put up banners and hung lanterns to decorate the new house. “Moving to a new house is like celebrating the Chinese New Year in advance,” said Shi happily.
