Villagers in northeastern China told AFP that the losses from recent flooding were "huge", a week after the heaviest rains Beijing has ever seen triggered widespread flooding in the region.
Zhuozhou, in Hebei, was blanketed by brown water in early August, with some reports suggesting the province shouldered the burden of a government decision to divert the deluge away from the capital.
The shells of cars and mountains of furniture caked in mud lay in front of shops in the village of Sanbuqiao, the fetid wreckage of a flood that some locals said they were not warned about in time.
"We really wished here in the village that they told us earlier," one man who asked to remain anonymous told AFP.
"We were surprised."
During a visit to affected areas last week, Hebei province party chief Ni Yuefeng said that the area could "reduce the pressure on Beijing's flood control" and serve as a "moat" for the capital.
China's state media has hailed the government's efforts to mitigate damage from the inundations, with coverage focused on tales of mutual aid and selfless officials working tirelessly on rescue efforts.
But a week after the waters first swelled, some villagers said they did not receive adequate warning from the authorities about when the floods would come.
With her car washed away, along with her company's merchandise, one resident told AFP she had suffered losses of about a million yuan ($140,000).
"The water rose very quickly," said the woman, who like others asked not to be named.
"Our little house isn't very high, so it's a good thing we realised the water was rising, otherwise we might have drowned," she added.
"I had insurance for my car, but not for my goods. As for compensation, I'm waiting to find out."
Some in the area, meanwhile, were unhappy about victims speaking to foreign press.
Before long, a man who introduced himself as "just a villager" ordered AFP journalists to leave.
"Nobody wants to talk to you here. Journalists have no right to be here if they are not sent by the government," he said.
AFP reporters experienced a similar confrontation by a self-described "ordinary citizen" in the nearby town of Matou.
Journalists do not require government permission to visit disaster zones in China.
On one roadside in Matou, six workers in a van were taking a lunch break.
"We're repairing the power lines, many of which are still down or not working," one of them said.
"I think it will take a few more days to get everything back up and running in the area."
Along the street, shops and small warehouses had been submerged under around two metres of water.
"The loss is probably very extensive," explained a man unloading debris.
"We have no idea how much. We're not from here. We just came here to help clean up."
Elsewhere in Matou, employees of a car repair garage dried filters and other spare parts in the sun to be resold.
Just in front were the wrecks of their customers' cars, submerged during the floods.
Inside, employees scraped off the last traces of mud and replaced the oil and lubricant cans on the display racks.
"The losses are huge for us, of course. We had no insurance," said one employee who did not want to give his name.
"We're waiting for the government's compensation plan. But I think all this is going to be very expensive. Maybe several hundred million yuan just for the area here."
Another shopkeeper told AFP the water rose "too fast".
"In the afternoon it was still at calf level and during the night it rose to two metres high," he said.
"It was certainly difficult to warn everyone in a timely manner."
He added that he was aware of a plan to use Hebei to limit flooding in the capital.
"But was it justified or not? We're just regular people. We don't know the details of all this," he said.
"We just see the water rising, the flooding and the losses that it causes. The rest is a bit beyond us."
© Agence France-Presse
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