Starting from July 16, large-scale precipitation weather has occurred continuously in the western and central and western regions of Henan Province. So far, this round of heavy rainfall has affected 7.579 million people in Henan Province, with 33 people killed, 8 missing, and direct economic losses of 81.973 billion yuan. This heavy rain has also affected the hearts of people across the country, and Henan has also become the direct target of rescue efforts by people across the country.
The heavy rain in Henan has had a great impact on the publishing industry. Because books are made of paper, they are very sensitive to water. During heavy rains, how did publishing practitioners fight floods and rescue books to protect their books? How can publishing practitioners save losses during emergency rescue? To this end, we interviewed Shi Hai, manager of the marketing and distribution department of Henan University Press, and Wang Zhijun, manager of Henan Yijia Book Co., Ltd. They told us about the damage caused during the heavy rain and how they rescued them. We can get a glimpse of the impact of this heavy rain on Henan's publishing industry, and we hope that the heavy rain will pass soon.
staff dried damp books, and Shihai provided pictures.
We will consider resuming normal work after everyone’s safety is guaranteed.
Beijing News: What is the current situation of your publishing house? Are you trying to rescue someone from danger just now?
Shihai: Yes, more than one meter of water entered our sample book exhibition hall. Now the water has receded, leaving behind a layer of silt. It took us a day to clean up the mud.
Workers are cleaning up the mud, Shihai provided the picture.
Beijing News: Have the books in the publishing house’s warehouse been affected by the flood?
Shihai: The books, equipment, and bookshelves in our sample book exhibition hall were all soaked in water. Warehouses also suffered varying degrees of flooding. But the warehouse is okay because it is built in a relatively high place and there are people on duty at night. Although the warehouse was flooded, it was not very wet because someone was constantly draining water outside. The warehouse is a key area for flood and fire prevention, and usually has various facilities. Although it rained heavily, we handled it in a timely manner, so the warehouse was fine.
Beijing News: Where is the warehouse specifically?
Shihai:Henan University is in Kaifeng. Our three warehouses of Henan University Press are all in Kaifeng . The rain in Kaifeng is a little lighter than in Zhengzhou.
The flooded cabinet, photo provided by Shihai.
Beijing News: So, where is the sample book exhibition hall?
Shihai: in Zhengzhou. The problem with the sample book exhibition hall is very serious. Our sample book exhibition hall took precautions on Tuesday morning. We set up flood prevention sandbags, but they still couldn't stop the rain. It rained extremely heavily for an hour that afternoon, and the water poured in all the time, and the floods were impossible to stop.
Beijing News: Where were you when it rained? Are you there?
Shihai: I was not there when it rained, and our office building had a power outage at 12 o'clock. From our office building to the sample book exhibition hall, no means of transportation could survive, and everything was flooded.
Beijing News: That’s why you have the opportunity to go to the exhibition hall to tidy up today.
Shihai: Yes, the way to the sample book exhibition hall was cleared on the afternoon of the 22nd. This road is not a normal one, and we have to take a long detour to get to the exhibition hall. The places with culverts and tunnels in Zhengzhou City are still draining water. If it weren't for the very high underground garage, the water wouldn't have been drained yet.
staff are cleaning up the scene, Shihai provided pictures.
Beijing News: How many colleagues are working on sorting things out now?
Shihai: We sent 9 colleagues to rescue and provide disaster relief on the 23rd, and there were 12 colleagues in the warehouse doing disaster relief. Because there should be no accumulation of water in the warehouse, books will easily get damp if there is accumulation of water. Therefore, we need to clean up all the accumulated water and silt on the ground.
Beijing News: Can you estimate the losses you have suffered now?
Shihai: We haven’t had time to count this matter yet. The sample book exhibition hall suffered a loss of about 100,000 yuan. However, coupled with the damaged furniture, bookshelves and related equipment and decoration, the damage to the sample book exhibition hall may reach more than one million. We have not yet made specific statistics on the losses of several warehouses. We first need to carry out drainage and desilting.
Beijing News: In this case, when will your normal work resume? Are the water and electricity connected?
Shihai: The water and electricity in the office building are connected, but the network signal is not very good. Most of my colleagues don’t have water and electricity in their homes. Many of our colleagues cannot go home and live in the office building all day long.
Beijing News: What unified arrangements do you have now for the subsequent restoration work and exhibition hall repairs?
Shi Hai: We now need to drain the water and moisture from the warehouse. Some colleagues are away on business, and the National Publishers Book Expo ended in Jinan on the 19th. On the 19th, it started to rain. Many colleagues have not returned to Henan so far. Because railway transportation in Henan has been temporarily interrupted. We first need to ensure the safety of every employee. Some colleagues who live in the flood discharge area should not stay at home. We will consider resuming normal work after everyone's safety is guaranteed.
Beijing News: Approximately how many colleagues’ homes need to be evacuated?
Shi Hai: There are currently three colleagues who have not returned from business trips. There may be three or four colleagues at home who need to be evacuated. A colleague’s hometown belongs to the flood discharge zone . This flood did not only occur in Zhengzhou. For this colleague, we first give care. How much can
save? How much can
save? Beijing News: How is the disaster situation on your side? Is there water in the warehouse?
Wang Zhijun: Our warehouse has not had water in it for more than 20 years. It is impossible for water to enter. However, the rain this year is so heavy that it can’t be stopped. The first floor of the house, which never received water, was flooded, with water reaching a depth of nearly one meter.
Beijing News: Are many books soaked in water?
Wang Zhijun: Some of the inventory of and the textbooks for the fall semester have been flooded. In addition, computers and some devices such as packager were flooded. So, we are very busy these days. Starting today, we will rush to save ourselves after the water recedes. We cannot blame others.
The flooded wall, photo provided by Shihai.
Beijing News: How much is your loss? Are there any statistics?
Wang Zhijun: We have lost about one million to more than two million yuan. We are very active now, and have all personnel rush to the warehouse to quickly move the books that have not been soaked in water to the upstairs. Where there is water, drain the water first, and then deal with the silt on the ground.
It is not yet the peak period for the demand for teaching materials. It will be from the end of this month to the beginning of next month. Some schools submit applications earlier. Because I am afraid that the goods will not be available by then, as long as you place an order with us now, we will purchase the goods.
We moved the books upstairs, and unpacked the half-soaked books. After unpacking, we picked out as many books as we could. Today, we have opened all the school bags that were completely soaked in water because we wanted to find out how many books were soaked in water. If I don't open it, I think these books will be bloated by tomorrow. Wet books must be taken out to dry, because once the paper becomes moldy, the subsequent problems will be even greater.
Beijing News: When will your side resume normal work?
Wang Zhijun: will take about a week. Today we took out all the books and used fans to blow away the moisture. If some books are wrapped well, water will not get into them; if they are not wrapped well, water will get in. I have to unwrap these envelopes. So, today's workload is huge and we can save as much as we can.
Beijing News: What is your biggest wish now? What are you going to do?
Wang Zhijun: Now, the Press and Publication Bureau requires all bookstores to report the damage, and the Taxation Bureau also requires all bookstores to report the damage. All publishing houses are calling to express condolences. This difficulty is nothing. The epidemic was so serious last year, but we still got through it. Now, we need to secure the school's back-to-school textbooks. Today we negotiated with the school and tried to use the teachers' books that had slightly wet edges to avoid waste. In addition, we and the publishing house are in the same boat through thick and thin, and I believe the publishing industry will also give us some support. The next step is to prepare for epidemic prevention.The room was so humid that the mice came out after being soaked in water. Therefore, cleaning and disinfection must be carried out quickly in the past few days.
Authors丨Xiao Shuyan, Xu Yuedong
Editors丨An Ye
Proofreaders丨Zhang Yanjun
