Residents in old city centers require financial aid to cope with floods

Residents are moved to safety on July 3 in Tongling, Anhui province, as flooding continued to affect the city and other regions in central and eastern China. [Photo by ZHAN JUN/FOR CHINA DAILY]

The upper reaches of the Yangtze River have been flooded after days of heavy rainstorms, and many cities in the region, including Wuhan in Central China's Hubei province, are waterlogged. Gmw.cn commented on Saturday:

That severe flooding that continues to test Chinese cities highlights the need to improve urban management. The truth is, due to their flawed urban planning and the fact that it will take time to address this, many Chinese cities will continue to battle against flooding in years to come.

Indeed, the old centers of most cities are only equipped with primitive underground sewers, which hardly work in the face of heavy rainstorms, but upgrading these systems is tricky because such areas are normally home to valuable architectural heritages, which rules out the possibility of ripping up the ground to replace all the dysfunctional sewers.

One solution to this problem is the relocation of local residents who live in these old city centers and the low-lying areas. It is possible that they simply cannot afford to leave their homes and settle elsewhere, despite the seasonal flooding. That being the case, local authorities and other non-governmental organizations should provide them with adequate compensation to help them cope with the flooding.

Accurate forecasts of bad weather and possible floods could also help reduce the damage to a minimum, if not put an end to it. That, of course, needs sufficient financial support and manpower, as natural disasters like floods can come anytime.