Opinion | Let NGOs do more for disaster response
Governments rightly admitted flaws after criticism of how they handled recent floods, but keep charities from giving help to people who need it
As once-in-a-century floods ravaged the nation's northeast this month, abnormally heavy rain also struck the southeast. In the Guangdong city of Shantou, 350 kilometres east of Hong Kong, flash floods trapped many people in rural areas in a 24-hour period.
Photos taken by those trapped and posted online showed water reaching the second floors of main street buildings in the suburbs of Xiashan and Chendian.
On August 17, rainfall in Chaonan district, where Xiashan is located, reached a record high of 55.5cm overnight, leaving four dead and affecting more than 800,000 residents.
By August 19, residents of Chendian complained that they were still trapped and there was no sign of rescuers. They had been left to their own devices to escape, using rubber dinghies, dragon boats and even inflatable mattresses.
Internet users also accused officials of covering up the extent of the floods, saying that government-owned media neither mentioned the floods nor the dire conditions facing residents in the following days .
Local officials were not prepared for the storm. In a news release on August 18, they admitted that moving stranded people was "very difficult" and that residents were encouraged to "save themselves" - in short, there were not enough rescue service resources to handle the crisis in a timely manner.
