The tropical storm Bilis may have passed, but it will take a long time for the flood-hit areas to recover.

Shenzhen Press Group has sent reporters to Shaoguan, Meizhou, Heyuan, Huizhou, and Chaozhou cities in Guangdong, areas that were hardest hit by Bilis. This column will describe what the reporters have seen.

Ruyuan County, Shaoguan: One dead, one missing, 700 million yuan (US$87.5 million) in losses in the biggest flood in a century in the county's history.

Vehicles carrying 20 volunteers from the Shenzhen Red Cross and Shenzhen Lion's Club pulled into Guitou Township, Ruyuan, on Saturday afternoon.

The floods that hit the township July 17 left most of the 5,300 families in the township homeless. Almost all the houses made from earth collapsed, while the more solid houses, made of cement, were empty. The air was filled with the stench of muddy clothes and dead animals.

"The flood came midnight. When I got up, the water already rose to my waist. I dragged a piece of clothes and ran to the higher grounds. I have lived for over 40 years but never seen such serious flood. All my belongings were washed away, and the crop was lost, too," said a villager surnamed Deng, while trying to dig something out of his collapsed house.

For two days and nights, the township lost contact with the outside world, and many villagers did not have anything to eat or drink. As the floods were replaced by searing heat, many villagers caught colds and throat infections. They were happy to recieve medicines brought by Shenzhen doctors.

The floods in Ruyuan receded a week ago, but people were yet to get over the panic. "I'm scared of water," said an 8-year-old girl in Taotou Village. Wen Jianping, vice head of Ruyuan County, said the county was in bad need of food, clothes and medicine.

Editor: Yan