15 Million Homeless In China..

[sun]

Chinese typhooons leave 15 MILLION HOMELESS!!!!--remember --these are real people,,,,just like you and me..15 million....

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 25, 2006
Filed at 8:07 a.m. ET
SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- Communities in southeastern China are straining to resettle more than 15 million people left homeless by four devastating typhoons in recent months, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.
The storms caused $3.6 billion in direct damage, Xinhua said, citing provincial officials in Fujian, the province worst hit by the disasters. The most costly damage was to businesses, farms, communications networks and water conservation projects.
It said the central government had allocated only $7.5 million in relief funds for Fujian and neighboring Zhejiang province.
The most recent storm, Saomai, hit Fujian in mid-August, killing 441 people. It was the worst storm since record-keeping began in 1949, according to the government.
Each summer brings catastrophic weather to China, usually in the form of torrential rains and tropical storms. But this year, while coastal regions are rebuilding from floods and typhoons, many inland areas are enduring their worst drought in decades.

[tucsoncoyote]

oldtoonguy is correct about the scope of this disaster, and I myself am going to give you a scope of how large this disaster is.

First off This time Last year there were 60,000 people who were stuck in New Orleans when Katrina hit. but that was of a population of 1 million people who lived in the City of New Orleans. who had to be re-located elsewhere..

(60,000 out of 1 million had to be relocated somewhere.)

So now imagine the City of New Orleans times 14..(and I'm refering to the Entire 1 million people that resided in the city before Katrina hit.

Another good representation would be this. Take New York City (Population 8 Million and Los Angeles (Population of 4 to 6 million and try to move both these city poipulations to say... Chicago.

See this is why a lot of People tend to think that Tropical cyclones and hurricanes "Are no big Deal" but considering that we are moving a population of 14 million Chinese in a country that houses over 1.2 billion, that seems like small numbers right? Well that's 0.01% of the total Chinese population being moved around.

Now in terms of the US, 14 Million people still relates to 1/50th of the entire Country population. Imagine 2% of the US Population (300 Million or roughly 1/4 of the Chinese Population) being shifted around the United states. (A lot of folks at that point) would call this a "Tactical Nightmare" at relocation)


So i do feel that 14-15 million people being shifted around (and into drought stricken areas, would in fact put potential strain on already low food supplies. and in fact there could be famine outbreaks because of this.

so you see, Moving even 14-15 million folks isn't easy.. and just think what it was like last year with just 60,000 New Orleanians...

:coyote:

[king zrz]

Oh my god.That is so sad.I really can't imagne this.I am so sad for those people.My support is with them.

[Kaoru]

Oh my god.That is so sad.I really can't imagne this.I am so sad for those people.My support is with them. Well I don't know what you mean by "support". I'm not going to send my money there to be stolen by the communist government, but I acknowledge that this is indeed a tragedy. That China is a very crowded nation.

[SilentBat18]

K, so china is uh crowded (crowded would be an understatement but there isnt a better word for it) but its a shame they got hit by 4 typhoons and got destroyed like this. Shanghai is a great place to go shopping not to mention its great for businesses. The chinese have worked hard to build to thier current state. its horrible to see a city detroyed after so much hard work, but they can rebuild with some help. They have my sympathy.

[king zrz]

Well I don't know what you mean by "support". I'm not going to send my money there to be stolen by the communist government, but I acknowledge that this is indeed a tragedy. That China is a very crowded nation.I didn't necessarily mean money.

[Eidan]

I haven't seen any news reports on this.

[sun]

I haven't seen any news reports on this.
Remember this story is almost two weeks old. After the intitial story off the AP, there often isn't followup because the country itself does not want follow up. Certain countries are far more secretive than others. This calamity, and how this country deals with it, is probably something that China wants to keep to itself. In terms of if it needs help, or is doing a good or bad job, that may be something that government may not be interested in telling the rest of the world.
...Still this is an incredible event. The relocation of 15 million people. (see post number 2)..I wonder how they are doing? I wish those homeless the very best.

[Squall]

K, so china is uh crowded (crowded would be an understatement but there isnt a better word for it)...

"Crowded" is a relative term. You could put all 6.2 billion people on Earth in the United States -- leaving the rest of the planet vacant - and give each man, woman, and child 1/2 acre of land each.

In China, as a matter of fact, most of the 1.2 billion people are concentrated in the southeastern 1/3 of the country. Western China, especially out where the Pakistan and India borders are, is quite rural!

Anyway, that is terrible news. :( Just how many people is 15 million people? Imagine that 3 out of every 4 Texans suddenly became homeless. Or the entire population of the New York-Philadelphia metro area (New Jersey included). Or 1/2 the population of Canada...!