Spirit, unity overcome threat of floodwaters(5)

Staying, or leaving?

He Chunlian, 68, and her second husband Zhang Youquan, 57, are among the people being temporarily relocated.

He has heart disease. She said after she learned from the loudspeaker that the dike had breached, her heart started racing and she fell down and injured her knee.

The couple have a small 50-square-meter apartment in Tuanzhou, which is now flooded. All the family's electric appliances have been destroyed, He said.

Zeng Yuanxiu, 85, is staying in a dormitory. Her home is about 100 meters away from where the dike was breached. She said she probably would have been washed away if it had not been the quick actions of her neighbors who knocked on her door and carried her to the dike.

She did not have time to grab any of her possessions. "I was so terrified. Even though I am 85, I am still afraid to die," she said.

Zeng's two daughters live in other provinces, and she has lived on her own since her husband passed away.

The couple were among the first group of people to move to Tuanzhou when the township was established in 1977. They moved from a mountainous township in Huarong to take advantage of the fertile land in the flood plain.

Recalling all the hard work she and her late husband did to rebuild their house after the 1996 flood, Zeng said she still wants to go back to see her home, but possibly for the last time. She wants to move back to her mountain home as she has experienced enough floods in her lifetime.

"In 1996, the breached dam was rebuilt by our villagers. Words cannot describe how much hardship we have endured," she said.

Liu Xiaorong, 69, is one of the lucky ones. Her house was not flooded because it is located in a higher area of the township. However, she was still transferred to the school because there was no electricity or drinkable water in the township.

"The volunteers treat me so nicely that I do not want to go back," she joked.

However, after a few moments of reflection, she said: "I still want to go back, as nowhere compares to home. Tuanzhou is a place that nurtures great people as hardships forge people."