Ordinary World (3) Chapter 30

...The Central Asian High Ridge develops and moves eastward to the Tibetan Plateau. At 8:00 tomorrow, the 500 millibar intensity will be 593 geopotential... The Western Pacific... This province and its southern neighboring provinces are convergence trough areas... ... Asia... the Ural Mountains... Baikal and our province are divided into trough areas...

We don't understand.

This is a term used by meteorologists.

The objective fact is: in a city located on a large river in the south of the province, due to the circulation situation in recent days, the weather has begun to brew a sudden disaster.

In the southern part of the province, in summer, the Kangzang High is often affected by the west-extending Pacific subtropical high. The ground is affected by the hot low pressure in the western corridor of the Yellow River and the basin of neighboring provinces in the south. Warm and cold air converge and heavy rains are imminent. In autumn, frontal activities become more intensive, often resulting in continuous rainy weather. Two large mountain ranges lie across the area, blocking the movement of updrafts. Heavy rains will inevitably form in autumn and summer, which may lead to disasters at any time.

A few days ago, 50 millimeters of precipitation fell in the counties on the upper reaches of the river. Immediately afterwards, the rainfall in another area in the middle reaches of the river reached 85 millimeters a day. At the same time, due to the eastward development of the Central Asian High Ridge, a strong high ridge was quickly established on the Tibetan Plateau; the cold air flow in front of the ridge was strengthened, causing plateau frontogenesis.

In the afternoon of the same day, a powerful cold front passed over the eastern part of the area. The torrential rains poured down and penetrated the western part of the region with great force, covering hundreds of kilometers.

The highest daily rainfall in the counties along the river has reached 140 mm. At noon the next day, a deputy cold front passed over the city. Heavy rain hit this city of 100,000 people.

The river close to the city is an important tributary of the Yangtze River, and the flood flow immediately exceeded 10,000 cubic meters per second.

At night, the largest hydropower station on the river, more than 100 kilometers upstream of the city, has an inflow capacity of 16,000 cubic meters per second and an outflow capacity of 15,700 cubic meters per second. According to the prediction of the hydrology department, the flood flow in the river section in this area will soon reach 20,000 cubic meters per second! And this is by no means the highest number - it will only increase, not decrease!

The city is at a critical moment!

According to the city's "Chronology of Previous Floods", the largest flood in history occurred in the eleventh year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1583 AD). "The river overflowed, and the water level reached more than ten feet above the city. The whole city was submerged. The public offices and private houses were all emptied, and more than 5,000 people drowned." According to the water level recorded on the cliff at the mouth of the river at that time, the actual water level was nearly 260 meters, and the flow rate was nearly 30,000 meters. Four thousand cubic meters per second.

Unexpectedly, four hundred years later, this city would face the same fate.

?

The leaders of the municipal party committee and prefectural party committee immediately took action in panic. The main leaders of the prefecture and city and the commander and political commissar of the military division formed a flood fighting headquarters and held an emergency meeting. . However, Comrade Gao Fengge, commander-in-chief and administrative commissioner of the regional flood control headquarters, was not present.

After attending a meeting in the province, Gao Fengge returned to his hometown in the central plain to arrange his son's wedding. Originally, in the past half month, the flood control work had entered the most critical moment, and Gao Fengge had known a few days ago that the rivers in the southern suburbs were in danger, but the administrative head of the region still took his secretary and sat in the administrative "Mazda" Went home to attend my son's wedding. That night, when the leaders of the region were anxious like ants on a hot pot, Gao Fengge was jubilantly hosting a banquet for guests and friends at the guest house in his hometown county. We know that when he was in Huangyuan, Gao Fengge dreamed of becoming a commissioner. Now, this dream has finally come true. Why didn't he use his son's wedding clothes to return home and show off to his elders?

In the absence of the commander-in-chief, the secretary of the prefectural committee immediately appointed himself as commander-in-chief. The meeting chaired by him began to draft an emergency mobilization order. After drafting the third article, he said: "No more writing! Go to the radio station and broadcast directly!" He dictated the content to the mayor of the city and asked him to go to the radio station first.

The radio station immediately began broadcasting a notice from the Municipal Public Security Bureau asking citizens to evacuate urgently. The secretary of the prefectural committee then rushed to the broadcasting room and used this opportunity to draft Order No. 1; he then read it directly to the citizens on the radio.

At this moment, dark clouds were covering the city, heavy rain was pouring, and the noise of vehicles suppressed the few tweeters in the city. Many units and family homes did not install cable broadcasting at all, and most of them did not hear this order. Some people heard it and thought it was a scary thing and ignored it. Besides, many people were unwilling to retreat. They can't leave their comfort zone and are greedy for the pots and pans at home. Even the people who started to evacuate moved extremely slowly.

The river surged higher and higher, swallowing up the edge of the city embankment like a beast-like bloody mouth. An inevitable misfortune is destined to come!

During the storm, the city fell into complete chaos. The secretary of the prefectural party committee passed through the crowd of defeated soldiers and rushed to the post and telecommunications building in the dark and dripping water. He ordered the radio operator to send an emergency telegram for help to the provincial party committee and government and the Lanzhou Military Region. Immediately afterwards, he turned back and ran to the radio station. At this moment, the old city has completely fallen; voices calling for help can be heard from everywhere in the flood.

"I am the secretary of the prefectural committee! Everyone needs to throw away the pots and pans. The flood has entered the city! Run for your life! I am the secretary of the prefectural committee! Everyone, run for your life!"

Prefectural Committee The secretary's hoarse voice was filled with tears, and he made a desperate last call on the radio.

The people who fled for their lives were wiping tears sadly while retreating to higher places - my dear city, it is about to end... At four o'clock in Ling'an, a series of urgent phone ringings alerted the provincial party committee Secretary Qiao Bonian woke up with a start. The call at this time must be about something urgent. He didn't even bother to put on his clothes, jumped out of bed and grabbed the microphone. The call came from the provincial flood control commander and deputy governor Wan Guobang - he reported the news that the southern city was flooded.

There was a "boom" in the first year of Qiao Bo's life, and he was almost dizzy and fell on the coffee table. He immediately asked the Wanguo Gang and the provincial governor Wang Zhaoyi to go directly to the airport to wait for him.

Qiao Bonian first called the commander of the provincial military region and asked him to prepare a helicopter immediately and wait for takeoff at the provincial civil aviation airport. Then, he used the phone to wake up Deputy Secretary Wu Bin from bed and asked him to prepare an emergency flight to the southern city in distress.

As soon as Wu Bin heard that such a serious thing had happened, he quickly got up and got dressed. His wife wanted to get him something to eat, but he drank it. There was chaos in the house, waking up the son next door.

Because it was Saturday, Wu Zhongping came home from the University of Technology to stay. He heard his parents getting up at this time, and he didn't know what happened, so he quickly got dressed. Zhongping quickly found out what happened from his father.

He suddenly thought of his good friend Gao Lang in the provincial newspaper. Gao Lang's father was the deputy mayor of the city and had a close relationship with his father, so he and Gao Lang were naturally very close. Wu Zhongping thought that for a reporter, this was a big news. He should go to Gao Lang immediately so that he could try to take the provincial leader's helicopter to the scene for interviews. He knew that Gao Lang had a fearless dedication to journalism, and this kind of interview was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him!

Out of friendship, Wu Zhongping ran to the duty room of the Provincial Party Committee Family Court in the heavy rain as soon as his father stepped out, called a car driver he knew well, and quickly drove to the provincial newspaper. He parked his car outside the newspaper office, rushed to the single dormitory upstairs of the newspaper office at a speed of 100 meters, and punched Gao Lang's door panel with his fist. No one came to open the door for a long time, and no lights came on in the room.

When Wu Zhongping was anxious, he saw the door of a room next to him open, and a lesbian wearing a shirt came out. Zhong Ping recognized this was Tian Xiaoxia. She is Gao Lang's friend, and the three of them once had a dinner together at the "Black Swan" restaurant.

"Gao Lang is on a business trip. What do you want to see him for now?" Xiaoxia asked him. Wu Zhongping was extremely frustrated.

He then briefly explained the situation to Tian Xiaoxia.

Unexpectedly, Tian Xiaoxia immediately said: "I'm going! Have you brought the car?" "Yes." Wu Zhongping said. He didn't expect a girl to take such a risk. Little did he know that this girl was famous throughout the newspaper for her adventurous spirit.

Tian Xiaoxia rushed into her house while she was talking, got dressed in less than two minutes, walked out with a yellow schoolbag hanging on her shoulder, grabbed the phone in the corridor, and called the vice president on night shift The editor said hello and followed Wu Zhongping down the stairs like a whirlwind. As she ran out of the gate panting, she said to Wu Zhongping: "Thank you for giving me a chance!" The brave female reporter was extremely emotional. They didn't know at this time that both of them were passionately in love with the brothers and sisters from the same family.

The car drove through the deserted streets of the provincial capital in the night wind and rain, made a sharp turn in the western suburbs, and rushed into the airport like an arrow.

Provincial Party Committee Secretary Qiao Bonian and others were already in the lobby of the waiting room. No one was sitting, they stood and waited for the last person - Deputy Governor Wan Guogang, who was in contact with the Lanzhou Air Force for the last time.

On the tarmac, a helicopter rumbled, its red signal light flickering on and off in the rainy night.

Tian Xiaoxia rushed into the waiting hall and said directly to several major provincial leaders: "I am a reporter from the provincial newspaper. Please allow me to go to the disaster area with you..."

Province The leaders at the airport were very surprised: How did she know that they were going to take a flight to the southern disaster area?

"There are no seats on the plane!" Zhang Shengmin, executive deputy secretary-general of the Provincial Party Committee, said bluntly.

"It is our duty to report on this severe flood. If something goes wrong, you may not be able to shoulder the responsibility!" Tian Xiaoxia said to the deputy secretary-general in a strong tone. None of the leaders present knew that she was Tian Fujun's daughter, but her journalistic demeanor made all the leaders notice this girl.

"Squeeze out a spot and let her go!" Qiao Bonian said to Zhang Shengmin. Shengmin has nothing to say. But he was clearly dissatisfied. In the opinion of the Secretary-General, for such a big matter, a reporter can only solve the problem!

As soon as the deputy governor Wanguobang arrived, Tian Xiaoxia followed the provincial leaders into the cabin of the helicopter that had been started.

The plane roared into the sky and flew south in the dark rainy night.

At dawn, the plane was over the flooded city. Looking down from the porthole, my eyes were full of yellow water. The houses in the city were half flooded and half exposed, making it an extremely miserable scene.

All the leaders could not help but clenched their fists; the provincial party secretary's eyes flashed with tears.

A fire broke out on a high ground. This is the point on the ground where the aircraft is required to land.

The helicopter flew over the rolling water and landed on the large playground of the regional division college.

Thousands of people surrounded the plane. The provincial leaders came down in mourning. Prefecture and city leaders were like a group of orphans who found their parents. They shed tears of panic and shook hands with their superiors.

As a result, a powerful command center was quickly established in the division college.

The carrier room of the local post and telecommunications office was engulfed by floods, and the city was cut off from the outside world for several hours. The radio operator who came randomly pressed the key immediately and reported the contents dictated by Qiao Bonian to the province, the military region, the State Council and the Central Military Commission. At the same time, the three-level leaders rushed to various places, nervously directing rescue operations - mainly to save lives!

No one knows how many people have been swept away by the floods. But one thing is certain: many others are at serious risk. There are countless people trapped on rooftops by floods alone; and people who have fallen into the water are shouting for help everywhere... In addition to saving itself, this city is anxiously waiting for foreign aid and Beijing's care; Life is full of eager hope!

After receiving orders from the Central Military Commission, planes from the Lanzhou and Wuhan Air Forces flew through the clouds and fog to the sky above the city, dropping life-saving equipment, food, and medicines one after another. A force from the General Logistics Department had already arrived at the scene, setting up sentries around banks, shops, and warehouses, and immediately launched into an intense battle to rescue the masses. In less than twenty minutes, more than thirty people from the unit sacrificed their lives to save the lives of the masses.

Several other troops were ordered to come here at a forced march speed... After Tian Xiaoxia stepped off the helicopter, she put aside the crying and screaming crowd, walked out of the division college, and single-handedly headed towards the flooded city. Run. She carried her yellow satchel on her back, and her clothes were soon soaked by the pouring rain. The vast flood surged past in front of us with a terrible roar. In the dim light of dawn, I saw various things floating on the water.

On the river, dead bodies and desperate living people floated down the river. Some cows, sheep, pigs, dogs, chickens, and birds were moved to safety with their owners, while others were on the roof with people waiting for help; most of them were swallowed up by the water and inevitably died, including humans, insects, birds, and animals. , each according to its kind, dependent on each other for life, birth and death. Trees live and die depending on their living environment and opportunities. Unfortunately, some old trees were uprooted, but they built bridges in the water, giving grace to those in need, and became great "Noah's Ark"... Places that were not flooded were full of people in disarray. Swarms of rats and snake traps spitting out letters ran for their lives among the crowd.

Tian Xiaoxia ran on the edge of the flood among the panicked crowd, her chest and throat seemed to be burning. She didn't know where she was going or what she was going to do; but she knew she had a lot to do!

She didn’t know that she had run to the East Embankment. Now, she was covered in mud, and the upper of one shoe was open, exposing her fingers.

Because the water has not yet reached here, people here are unaware of the chaos in the city. Despite the efforts of the police and soldiers, more than 3,000 residents remained outside the embankment and refused to heed the advice.

People in the nursing home are still playing poker for fun. Among them, there are some old people who talk about the Republic of China and the Qing Dynasty. It is clear that water is coming, and they are still giving examples to prove that water will not be released.

As soon as Tian Xiaoxia arrived here, she quickly understood the situation. She found the deputy director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau who was about to go crazy with anger, took out her press card from her arms, waved it in front of the deputy director like a football referee showing a yellow card, and said: "I am a reporter. Please order the police to pick up their guns. Pick up bayonets and force the crowd to evacuate!"

The deputy director of the Public Security Bureau woke up from a dream and obeyed the little girl's command. He immediately ordered the police to pick up bayonets and force these home-loving people to evacuate. The stubborn citizens retreated. Forced by bayonets, three thousand men retreated, howling and cursing.

Half an hour later this place turned into a vast ocean, but except for one madman, everyone here survived. The deputy director of the Public Security Bureau admired the female reporter and begged her to join them in evacuating the masses. Tian Xiaoxia readily agreed and immediately became the "senior adviser" to the deputy director, directing the police to rush around to rescue people. She took advantage of the opportunity to write her first message under the eaves and handed it to the deputy director, asking him to send someone to the division college later to try to get the headquarters to send it back to the society.

Tian Xiaoxia had just handed the manuscript in a plastic bag to the deputy director when she suddenly found a little girl holding a half-flooded telephone pole in the flood not far away. There was a faint cry in the roar of the water, and it was about to be swallowed up by the flood.

She jumped into the water almost without thinking. The only thing she heard next to her was a scream from the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau. Xiaoxia was good at swimming at school, but that was in a swimming pool.

She quickly felt like she was losing control of herself in the flood. However, she grabbed a wooden board in the float and reluctantly pushed it to the little girl's hand. When she saw the girl grabbing the board, a wave crested over her head.

At the last moment, only the figure of Sun Shaoping flashed before her eyes, and he stretched out a hand, seemingly grabbing her loved one's hand, and then disappeared in the flood... When Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Soon after Qiao Bonian and other provincial leaders learned that the female reporter who had followed them had died, they also found out that she was Tian Fujun's daughter. Everyone at the headquarters was both uncomfortable and shocked.

In the early morning of the next day, Qiao Bonian ordered Wu Bin, who returned to the provincial capital to organize support, to quickly tell Comrade Fu Jun the news.

So, after Wu Bin returned to the provincial capital by helicopter, he made that thunderous phone call to Tian Fujun at the airport...