In current events, there are many upsetting stories in the news including civil protests, a global fight against a virus, and natural disasters. You may not have heard, but since June, continuous heavy rainfall has occurred in southern China.
The accumulated rainfall is massive and the coverage is widespread. The flood prevention efforts in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are taken very seriously.
Although Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, and a few other places have become the hardest-hit areas, awe-inspiring flood relief work has affected the hearts of hundreds of millions of Chinese people during the natural disaster.
洪水 ( hóngshuǐ): flood
Examples:
hóngshuǐ shì yì zhǒng zìrán zāihài.
洪水是一种自然灾害。
Flood is a natural disaster.
hóngshuǐ cuīhuǐle wǒmen de jiāyuán.
洪水摧毁了我们的家园。
The flood destroyed our home.
The efforts to minimize the effects of the unpredictable and devastating floods include measures to:
1.Strengthen emergency drills in various places and prepare response measures in advance.
Many provinces such as Beijing, Shenyang, and Qingdao have carried out emergency drills one after another to take precautions to ensure that each city is prepared to respond quickly when floods come and ensure the “安全 (ānquán) safety” of the people’s lives and property in a timely manner.
安全 (ānquán): safety
Examples:
chūmén zàiwài, ānquán dì yī.
出门在外，安全第一。
Go out, safety first.
wǒmen yào zhùyì ānquán.
我们要注意安全。
We must pay attention to safety.
2.Good logistics support
Logistical “保障(bǎozhàng) support” is an important part of flood relief and is also the foundation of frontline morale and combat effectiveness.
In some places, skilled chefs are arranged to prepare delicious food that is nutritionally balanced for the members of the anti-flood and rescue teams.
In some places, they also coordinate state-owned and social resources to properly arrange accommodation, living water, clean drinking water, heatstroke prevention and cooling measures as well as bathing facilities for the rescue team members.
That’s not all. Other locations have carefully prepared supplemental supplies such as emergency snacks, drinking water, medical care, disinfecting implements, and anti-mosquito medications for rescue team members.
In addition, some places have gone as far as to offer business counseling to enhance safety awareness among rescue team members and implement detailed measures for safe flood control to ensure the safety of all flood control personnel.
保障 (bǎozhàng): guarantee/support
Examples:
hǎo xíguàn shì chénggōng de bǎozhàng.
好习惯是成功的保障。
Good habits are the guarantee of success.
hòuqín bǎozhàng shì fánghóng jīchǔ.
后勤保障是防洪基础。
Logistics support is the basis for flood control.
3.High-tech flood control
Compared to the previous human sandbags, today’s flood control is also imbued with more high-tech strategies.
We use unmanned aerial vehicles and remote satellite sensing to monitor the danger level of rivers, determine river sediment erosion rates, and collect 5G video surveillance to monitor the operation of the reservoir dam.
The continuous application of new technologies makes the management of the Yellow River increasingly “smarter” in terms of capabilities and limitations.
The high-definition video captured by the drone can clearly see the live river situation at any moment and any landslide activity. It provides an important basis for analyzing the river’s projected course and the location of the flood control project. It provides great convenience for the scientific decision-making of flood prevention and rescue efforts as well.
科技 (kējì): technology
Examples:
kējì chéngjiù wèilái.
科技成就未来。
Technology makes the future.
guójiā zhèng dàlì fāzhǎn kējì.
国家正大力发展科技。
The country is vigorously developing technology.
With all of the effort and preparedness put into action, these regions are ready to face nearly any flood of any caliber and will be able to withstand the whole ordeal successfully. To all of the personnel who have worked tirelessly to ensure the safety and well-being of the Chinese citizens, the people are grateful and will be sure to see the end of 2020 despite all odds that this year has presented.
Are there any natural disasters happening in your part of the world?
PS:Some of the material in this article was sourced from news reports. If there are any concerns about usage rights infringement, please contact us.
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