More than 20,000 flood survivors in Nankouqian, Liaoning province, were busy digging their property out of the mud on Wednesday after downpours struck the town late last week.

Nankouqian's busiest street, which is about 200 meters long, was the center of the rain's devastation. After the flood, the street was covered in a meter of mud, and doors and windows for more than 100 merchants on the street were yanked out.

Rains hit Fushun and nearby areas, but Nankouqian was the hardest-hit in what officials are calling the worst flood in decades. The downpours, which began on Thursday and didn't let up until Saturday, swamped rural houses, cutting off railways, roads and power supplies in the city. About 400 residents, mainly elderly people, women and children, who lost their homes on Wednesday are living in 64 tents around town.