2017年CRI Resettlement almost done on tornado anniversary

 

A tornado¹ hit the city of Yancheng in Jiangsu province on June 23rd last year. [Photo: jschina.com.cn]

On June 23rd last year, a "rare" tornado flattened² or damaged more than 30,000 rural homes in regions administered by the City of Yancheng, in Jiangsu Province.

Now, a year on, villagers affected³ by the disaster have mostly moved to fresh new and quality resettlements partly funded by the local government.

A year ago, on the afternoon of June 23rd, a fatal tornado hit Funing and Sheyang counties --both administered by the city of Yancheng.

Overall, it killed 99 people and injured 875 others according to official figures.

More than 45,000 residents were affected with about 32,000 houses damaged or collapsed⁴.

The disaster was particularly hard to accept for people in the area because it happened in one of China's wealthiest and most modern regions—Jiangsu Province.

Straight after the rescue and relief efforts, government-coordinated reconstruction⁵ began.

In Lixin Village, Funing County, the construction of a resettlement started in late September 2016, just three months after the tornado hit.

The resettlement site, called New Lixin Village, has 125 stand-alone buildings, which are semi-detached or three-in-a-row two-story ones. The houses range in size from 70 to 140 square meters.

The New Lixin Village is built by local government. It can accommodate 375 families, a little more than the number of households affected by the tornado. [Photo: js.people.com.cn]

Unlike traditional Chinese villages, the resettlement took the form of a high-end urban community, with carefully designed buildings, roads, lamplights, green spaces, and so on.

Local officials say the New Lixin Village can accommodate 375 families, a little more than the number of households affected by the tornado.

The new houses have been sold to the tornado-affected villagers at a uniform price of 900 yuan per square meter, a huge discount on average market prices.

Forty-six-year-old Liu Xiaping, whose house was destroyed by the tornado, is satisfied with the scheme.

"The government has given us some subsidy⁶. We ourselves paid a certain amount. My new house is 140 square meters in floor area. We paid more than 70,000 yuan for it. The other 55,000 yuan was funded by the government."

Liu and many of her fellow villagers have been the beneficiaries of a massive government reconstruction project.

Less than one month after the disaster, the project began under the supervision⁷ of the Yancheng city government.

A special reconstruction fund was set up, with officials aiming to raise some 1.1 billion yuan both from public coffers and donations.

Wang Rongping, the most senior official in Yancheng city, says the project is people-oriented.

"How to carry out post-disaster reconstruction? Our policies are the key standards that people will use to evaluate us. We have upheld the principle of putting people's interests first and taking into consideration the actual conditions of the disaster areas and people's wishes."

The official says that all 20 resettlements will be finished by the end of June.

1 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

2 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

5 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

6 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

7 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。