Pengfei Group, a company in the Shanxi city of Xiaoyi, donates 60 million yuan to disaster relief. [Photo by Wang Pei for China Daily]

After more than one month living in a temporary settlement, 68-year-old Wang Hua, a resident in the village of Shoucheng in Yicheng county, Shanxi province, finally returned to his old home on Nov 5. He was seen off by his neighbor Ge Decheng, who would also be returning home several days later.

Wang's residence, as well as those of six other families, was almost washed away by a severe flood starting on Oct 2. Ge's house was the most severely damaged of all the properties.

To help the hard-hit families, the village committee of the Communist Party of China and the villagers committee carried out renovations on the houses soon after the floodwaters receded, with the costs covered by the local government and donations from the public.

From Oct 2-7, Shanxi was stricken by the most severe autumn flood in its recorded history. The residences of more than 19,100 urban households and 138,100 rural homes were destroyed by the flooding.

The governments at various levels have implemented measures to assist those affected.

Soon after the flooding occurred, the Shanxi Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development required officials to conduct surveys on all sites to assess the severity of damage, according to Zhai Shunhe, an official at the department.

"The governments have taken steps to assist in the reconstruction according to the different levels of damage to properties," Zhai said. "Our surveys found that a total of 138,100 rural families suffered losses to various degrees. Among these, 81,400 households are eligible to receive financial subsidies from the government for their reconstructions."

According to the official, the governments in Shanxi have begun repairs to 23,034 flood-affected residences belonging to rural families.

He added that to this date the renovations for 5,884 households have been completed.

Flood-affected residents, who have needed to move to temporary settlements, including rented houses, have also received rental subsidies from the government, according to Zhai.

In addition to the government subsidy worth a total of 333 million yuan ($52 million), donations from individuals and businesses throughout Shanxi and from the rest of the country have also played an important role in disaster alleviation.

According to the Shanxi Red Cross Society, it has received cash and material supplies worth a total of 899 million yuan from various benefactors. The bulk of these donations is being used for post-disaster reconstruction.

The Shanxi Charity Federation and the Shanxi Department of Civil Affairs are also using donations they received to assist in the disaster relief.

Yang Zhenzhong, deputy head of the Shanxi Department of Emergency Management, said the reconstruction work on all rural residences is required to be completed before the end of January, ensuring residents can spend Spring Festival in their own homes.

Wang Pei contributed to this story.