Memories of the great flood in Chengdu

Graphics/Forbes

After many years, the scene of the flood in July, 198 1, is still vivid and will always appear in front of us.

? The sudden flood flooded the campus.

It rained cats and dogs in Chengdu that day, and 13 never stopped. I work in Chengdu No.19 Middle School on the Jinjiang River near Jiuyan Bridge in the east of Chengdu. The school has already had its summer vacation, and there is no one in the air, only the sound of rain can be heard. My family lives in the east building of the school. Looking out of the window, the school playground was flooded, and only two sticks were exposed on the parallel bars. The bungalow classroom was flooded and the water had reached the windowsill; Football, basketball and volleyball in the school sports storage room float on the playground, just like dozens of heads dangling in the water; I have never seen such a big school flooded like this. Look at the streets around the school. Looking down from upstairs, there are almost no low tile houses next to the wall in Jiabao quadrangle. In the yard next door, the household leaked rain, connected to the washbasin, filled with water, bedridden with wet clothes and flooded into the bed. Some cabinets in their house floated up. It has been raining too hard for too long.

? Most streets outside the school, such as banxian Street, Lianhua Village, Xingui Village and Sanguantang Street, were flooded to the thighs. The scene was frightening.

? Watch the flood at Jiuyan Bridge

It rained for a day and a night, and I was worried about my wife who worked in Northwest Bridge. She stayed at her mother's house because of the rain. It rained a little less at two or three noon. I put on my raincoat and rode my bike out of school. I saw that it was completely surrounded by Zeguo, and then I looked at Jinjiang in front of the school gate. The river is above the highway, and a full river is running down. The overflowing river flows from the hole in the fence into the riverside avenue. At this time, the water in the street has flooded my knees. I rode along Jinjiang to Jiuyan Bridge, and four or five of the nine bridge opening of Jiuyan Bridge have been blocked by floods. Many citizens stood on the bridge with umbrellas and raincoats, and sometimes they shouted. Look at the "floating wealth" floating in the river from time to time, including the roof truss washed down, panicked pigs, sheep, cats, dogs and logs washed down with the water. It's really exciting to see this. Passing the Star Bridge Cinema along the bridge, the terrain is high and there is no water. Ride to Jinshui Lane, cross Shuijing Street, then turn left and walk to Dongmen Bridge. There are few cars and no people in the street. Looking at the banks of Fuhe River, the diaojiao buildings on both sides are in jeopardy. Some of them have been pulled down by water to support their pillars, and some have been completely crooked, as if they could hear creaking sounds. The rushing river is frightening.

? The city security bureau has guards.

Passing through the city center, there are few pedestrians on the street and most buses have stopped. Go straight ahead against the rain and come to the northwest bridge Chengdu timber comprehensive factory. My wife, father-in-law and mother-in-law are all well, and my heart that has been hanging has been put down. Wood heald factory is located in the northwest of Chengdu, upstream of Fuhe River, with high terrain. There are 300,000 cubic meters of logs stored in the factory's sluice fence (called Macha) and timber yard. If the logs drift out of control with the water, all the bridges in the lower reaches of Fuhe River will be destroyed and knocked down, and the piers and bridges will be overturned and smashed. If logs are allowed to block the river, the flood will not be smooth and the city will be flooded, and the consequences will be unimaginable. At this time, Chengdu Wood Comprehensive Factory has already organized workers to protect the factory. They guarded the factory and the city, so that Chengdu, a big city, avoided a catastrophe. Until today, I will say thank you again and again here! Thank you, master worker of the wooden heald factory.

See the police in times of crisis

After dinner, the rain stopped at five or six o'clock, and I rode back to school alone. The river of Northwest Bridge is still rising. From the Xijiao Stadium to the North Lane, the street has been completely submerged. Continue to rush to Xi' an road, the rain has flooded the thigh, so we can only push forward. On the low pavement on both sides of Tongren Road, Xi 'an Road, the flood has flooded into the houses, and almost every family has been flooded. The old man set up a bench or stood on a table at the street entrance, holding a baby and a bag in his arms. The scene was simply too scary to watch. On the way, I met the police from Xicheng Branch and Xi 'an Road Police Station. I saw them under the leadership of a director surnamed Cao, regardless of personal safety, saving goods and property for the affected residents. The police are carrying the old man and carrying the child to the heights. I can still hear the shouts of "Don't panic, don't be afraid". The scene is really touching. Later, I learned that this is the lowest place in the city. The flood of Sandong Bridge blocked bridge opening, the river flowed out, and the flooded streets were poured into houses, which caused this touching scene of saving lives.

? Flood disaster is a villain.

From the east to the west, Chunxi Road, the main road, entered the city, and Dongfeng Road in the city center was not affected, relying on the sewer pipe laid by one person when repairing Dongfeng Road. I went back to the old house in Huaxing Street to see my mother, and everything was fine at home. Then leave and ride to Dongmen Bridge. You can see fallen roadside trees on both sides of the road. Came to the door of the snack bar at the corner of Jinshui Street, Dongmenqiao, and heard someone ask:

"How much is the steamed bread?"

Twenty cents each.

"Catch people!"

"Your baby dog ate! Want to get rich! Shrimp, don't die. "

At that time, two steamed buns were usually 50 cents each. At the entrance of the snack bar, I saw someone pointing and swearing. In the disaster, we can also see greedy businessmen in the society, who are looking forward to a bowl of rice. This despicable act of taking advantage of others' danger is of course to be blamed.

? Tides in the flood

? Go further and come to Jiuyan Bridge. There are only three or four unsealed caves in bridge opening, and the river is still rising. Three babies and five babies stood on the Dahuangjiao tree near Jiuyan Bridge. Seven or eight parents jumped into the water and flew into the river. A foreman (Zhamengzi) was planted at the entrance of the towel and sheet factory, and some undulating long beaches appeared in the river, which was very good for frolicking. Downstream, the river has overflowed the railing and flooded into the street. Get off the bus and push the water to your waist. Go down to Yili, No.19 Middle School in Chengdu. From a distance, it looks like two big rivers flowing downstream at the same time. That battle was really frightening.

? The flood will not enter Huaying Temple.

There are many people standing at the gate of Chengdu No.19 Middle School. I don't know why. Floods all over the street just can't get into the gate of No.19 Middle School. The school gate and the teacher's office (the main hall of the original temple) have temporarily become shelters for nearby residents to avoid disasters. Later, I heard from the old headmaster of No.19 Middle School that Chengdu No.19 Middle School was originally called Chengcheng Middle School, which was founded in 1938 during the Anti-Japanese War and was a private middle school. Principal Tao Liangsheng is a well-known foreign cultural, educational and aid-aiding figure in Sichuan, and one of the directors is General Li Jiayu, the Chengdu anti-Japanese general. The school site is Huaying Temple, a temple donated by monks. This is the most concentrated area of history and culture outside the East Gate of Chengdu: Songgong Bridge, Tiemenkou, Sanguantang and Huaying Temple, each with its own story; Song Lian, the founding minister of the Ming Dynasty, was buried here after his death. Zhu Ziqing, a great prose writer in modern times, lived at an iron threshold during the Anti-Japanese War. Many famous professors of Sichuan University have taught here. In front of Chengdu No.19 Middle School is the only ferry to Sichuan University. According to records, before the construction of Xiuhua Temple, the monks who built the temple consulted the hydrological data for hundreds of years and finally chose this place. In the hundreds of years after the restoration of Huaying Temple, I have never heard of being flooded, even a big flood.

? Pick up live fish and shrimp by the roadside

At dusk, the water gradually slows down. The river in the street flows back into the river, and all that is left in the street is mud and broken stems of crops hanging on the railings by the river. Misgurnus anguillicaudatus and Monopterus albus can be seen everywhere, and the river crabs crawling on the river railings are motionless. Teacher Wang, the school's PE teacher, kept beach seine on the fence by the river with a wrench on his back, which was quite rewarding. Look at his fish basket, bucket and basin. He has caught a dozen or twenty river fish with a weight of two or three pounds or four or five pounds. These are all wild river fish. At this moment, a passer-by said to Mr. Wang: Should we play "water" (drowning person)? ? After the heavy rain, everyone hid at home, and there were few pedestrians in the street. Look at the Wangjiang Tower (Chongli Tower) across the river at night, and I feel that it has also been washed clean. On the cement bridge at the east gate of Wangjiang Park, the flood washed three logs more than ten meters long and carried by one person to the arch hole of the pier and placed them horizontally on the bridge body. The bridge seems to be shaking, as if it can hear the sound of breaking. There is no one on the bridge. People who go in and out of Wangjiang Park to Sichuan University will make a detour and turn a big bend around Jiuyan Bridge. That night, there was no electricity in Jiuyanqiao area, and there were black cats, each worried about rain.

Anshun qiaoxiahe new village

After two days, the rain stopped and the river receded. Neighborhood committees organize citizens to help themselves and dry their belongings. At the bottom of Wangjiang Park, next to Jinjiang, there is an artificially excavated spillway. The two rivers diverged and merged to form an artificial island: Hexin Village. Covering an area of 200 mu, there are more than 30 families living on it, belonging to a production team under the jurisdiction of Dongguang Brigade of Guixi Commune. When the spillway was dug in Hexin Village, it was found that there were all sand and gravel below, and later the "Seamless Steel Pipe Factory (No.65 Factory)" was built, which was a useful building material. In order to ensure the construction of Chengdu, three population lakes of different sizes were formed on the island of Hexincun, with a surface area of more than 100 mu. One day, I heard one of my students say:

Do you know, teacher? Anshun Bridge was washed away by the flood!

All collapsed, and the bridge body was planted into the river head together with the onlookers. There are dozens of adults and dolls.

Except those who climbed ashore by themselves, all the others were gone.

There were more than a dozen bodies floating on the river this morning, all of them were people watching the fun at Anshun Bridge. How scary!

Only then did I know that at 2 o'clock in the afternoon in July 14, the flood washed away the bridge of Anshun Bridge in the upper reaches of Jiuyan Bridge, taking away dozens of adults and children who were watching the fun on the bridge. Then I rode to Hexin Village and saw many people around the lake in the distance. The bodies had been salvaged and stopped at the lake. Several forensic-looking people are checking. Seeing these people die, men, women and children were horrified, and the government dealt with the matter in time. It seems that Anshun Bridge was really destroyed by the flood. When the bridge collapsed, everyone panicked. After falling into the water, you hugged me and pulled you, choking to death. Watching the excitement ruined life. What a pity!

So far, really! I seem to see those fresh fish, as if they were dozens of fresh lives. Do you think this fish still dares to eat?

In the next few days, residents organized street cleaning. The relevant departments sent cranes to lift three large logs that endangered the pier and bridge body in front of the east gate of Wangjiang Park off the bridge. The cement bridge was not demolished until the mid-1990s. In the following months, the workers of Chengdu River Management Office, carrying red paint buckets, used paint brushes to draw lines with watermarks in front of the households along the river, marking the same height. The highest line is 80 to 90 cm above the ground.

1981July 13 Chengdu that big flood, I can't forget that scene until today.