Beijing News (Reporter Huang Zhecheng) As the last "reservoir" before the Yangtze River enters the lower reaches, Poyang Lake was severely affected by the flood season this year.
Satellite monitoring conducted by the National Satellite Meteorological Center and the Jiangxi Provincial Meteorological Bureau shows that as of 6:00 on July 14, the main body of Poyang Lake and nearby water areas reached 4,403 square kilometers, the largest in 10 years. Subsequently, the water level gradually declined. As of 13:00 on July 17, the water level of Poyang Lake Poyang Station was 22 meters, still 2.5 meters above the warning level.
During this year’s flood season, Poyang County villages and towns adjacent to Poyang Lake have established a dike inspection system. Xu Zheng, village branch secretary of Donggao Village Committee in Poyang County, and village cadres have become embankment patrollers in the Donggao Village section of Raohe Lianwei . “Since July 4th, we have basically been eating, living and traveling on the polder. We patrol the dyke 24 hours a day and have an average sleep time of less than 4 hours a day. The 2 kilometers from the polder to our home has become an insurmountable distance. Xu Zheng joked that he and his wife seemed to be in a "long-distance relationship."
Xu Zheng (right) and village cadres clean up the flooded roads in the village. Pictures provided by interviewees
Talking about floods
The floods were severe in early July, and 80% of the farmland in the village was flooded
Beijing News: How is the disaster situation in Poyang County and your village now?
Xu Zheng: The rain stopped around July 12. Now the weather is relatively hot, and the disaster situation in Poyang County is more stable than before. Our Donggao Village is about 20 kilometers away from Poyang Lake. The north side of the village is close to Raohe Lianwei. The water level of the Changjiang River outside the dike has dropped to about 22 meters. The warning line is 18.5 meters, and the water level is still very high. We were still guarding the dike, taking turns patrolling the dike every day and not daring to relax.
Beijing News: What impact did the flood have on the village?
Xu Zheng: This year's flood is the most serious one I have encountered. The water level in the Changjiang River has risen rapidly. The village cannot open the gate to release water, and the water in the fields cannot be discharged into the river. Waterlogging is serious.
html It was windy and rainy all day on July 9. When we patrolled the embankment, we witnessed the Changjiang River rising rapidly. We used local methods to measure the water level rise. We brought a stick and inserted it into the river. We marked a water level mark on the stick. We measured it once at 11 o'clock in the morning and again at 8 o'clock in the evening. In 9 hours, Changjiang River skyrocketed by more than 70 centimeters.Donggao Village has 2,780 villagers and cultivates 2,220 acres of farmland. When floods were severe in early July, 80% of the farmland in the village was flooded. Now that the floods have receded, water still accumulates in low-lying areas of the village, and about half of the fields are still waterlogged. Fortunately, the terrain of the village is sloping and the villagers live on high ground, so the flood has little impact on the houses.
Beijing News: Was there any danger during ?
Xu Zheng: At about 9:30 pm on July 9th, village cadres and I were patrolling the embankment. Villagers on the other side of the Changjiang River called and said that the embankment broke in Zhongzhouwei, Changzhou Township, and floods poured into many villages on the other side, causing damage. serious. We quickly received a notice from the county and immediately went to evacuate the villagers near the Changzhou Bridge to make way for the road to ensure the rapid passage of rescue vehicles.
Zhongzhouwei, where the embankment collapsed, is only 5 kilometers away from our village. Many villagers were anxious when they heard that the embankment on the opposite side had collapsed, fearing that the same situation would happen here. Some villagers' family members were in danger in the village on the other side of the river, and they wanted to check the safety of their relatives on the other side of the river.
So appeasing the villagers was a key task at that time. The daughter of an old man in the village married to the other side of the river. The daughter and her husband worked outside. Only the child and her parents-in-law were in one of the disaster-stricken villages. The old man was very worried. He was riding a tricycle to cross the bridge. He grabbed us and said, "Let me go, let me go!"
We quickly stopped him. I comforted the old man and told him that the rescue team had arrived at the scene and that his family would be fine. Yes, now it will affect the rescue. Go home first to ensure your own safety, and then continue to try to call to confirm that your loved ones are safe.
later confirmed that the damage to the old man's relatives' residence was not too serious. They had taken refuge on the second floor, and rescuers helped move their belongings.
Xu Zheng and his colleagues cleared the weeds at the foot of the polder embankment to ensure that the patrol channel was clean
.Picture provided by the interviewee
Talking about patrolling the embankment
One round trip takes 3 hours to check whether there is water seepage and springs
Beijing News: What are you mainly responsible for in this flood prevention work?
Xu Zheng: I am responsible for the resettlement of people in the village, the allocation of materials, patrolling the embankment, etc. At this stage, patrolling the embankment is the main task.
Our village is responsible for the inspection of the polder embankment in the East Gao Village section of Lianwei, Raohe River, with a total length of 1,334 meters. Starting on July 4, two groups of village officials patrolled the embankment in shifts, almost non-stop 24 hours a day.
Although it is only over one kilometer, it takes at least three hours to complete a round trip. We need to inspect all the upper, middle and lower parts of the polder embankment to check whether there is water seepage in the middle of the polder embankment. We should pay special attention to whether there is a surging spring below.
When patrolling the embankment at night, the view is not good, the speed is slower, and there are some low-lying areas that are difficult to find on the way, which requires more energy. Rats, snakes, hedgehogs and other animals also come out at night. When patrolling the embankment, each of us carries a flashlight, rain boots, and a shovel. In addition to digging mud, the shovel is also used for self-defense.
Beijing News: Have you ever discovered any danger during the embankment patrol?
Xu Zheng: My colleagues and I have discovered seven or eight hot springs.
After the bottom of the polder is damaged, the river water seeps into the inside of the polder. Because the water level is high, the pressure is high, and the seepage flow is large, a spring will be formed on the inside of the polder, like a "small fountain" with water gushing up. If not treated in time, Fountains in the springs will hollow out the sand and soil beneath the embankments, possibly causing them to burst.
12 At 0:00 in the morning, we had just returned to the command post. Everyone was very tired. At this time, the mobile phone rang. A spring with a diameter of 14 to 15 centimeters was found upstream of the polder section that our village is responsible for. I quickly rode my electric bike to the scene.
The water flow from this spring is four to five centimeters high, and is mixed with fine sand brought from the dike. We immediately packed the soil with sacks, piled five layers of sacks around the spring to block it, and then piled stones into the spring to pressurize it until the water stopped flowing and the water became clear. It took a total of two hours to deal with it. Fortunately, it was discovered in time, otherwise it may be dangerous. Sometimes the collapse of the embankment starts from such an "ant nest".
Xu Zheng and his colleagues put soil into sacks to seal the
spring on the inside of the
polder. Pictures provided by interviewees
Talk about feelings
On duty during the flood season, you rarely go home. It’s like having a "long-distance relationship" with your wife
Beijing News: What is your fighting and work and rest status these days?
Xu Zheng: We built a wooden house on the polder embankment as a flood control command post. Village cadres stayed on the polder embankment for food, accommodation and transportation almost all day. From the 8th to now, unless there are emergencies, we basically go to bed at two or three in the morning and start working after six o'clock, sleeping less than 4 hours a day on average. Because in addition to flood prevention, we also have daily work in the village.
Beijing News: How do you take care of your family during this time?
Xu Zheng: During the flood prevention period, my wife was mainly taking care of the elderly and two children at home, and she was also very hard-working. My home is at the eastern end of Donggao Village, and the flood control command post is at the western end of the village. They are two kilometers apart. Although they are not far away, my wife and I feel like we are living a "long-distance relationship" these days. I usually stay on the polder embankment. Occasionally I go home to take a shower and then race against time to get some sleep.
I called my wife yesterday. Thanks to her for taking care of the house during this period, I said that when the flood situation improves, I will go back and cook some good meals to make up for her. This year, my son is 11 years old and my daughter is 10 years old. We occasionally video chat and they ask me every time when we can go back. I can only say that it will be soon.
My mother also misses me very much. She went home the morning before yesterday and she said, "Son, you haven't chatted with your mother for a long time and I want to talk to you." I said I was too tired and wanted to sleep for a while. The old lady was a little sad, but there was nothing we could do. The water had not receded for a day, and our strings could not be loosened. I told her that I would chat with her more after the flood season.
Beijing News reporter Huang Zhecheng
editor Zhang Chang proofreader Wu Xingfa
