The situation of flood control and fighting is grim. How to fight this tough battle in the critical period？

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, August 1stQuestion: The situation of flood control and fighting is grim. How to fight this tough battle in the critical period?

Xinhua News Agency reporters Liu Shiping, Tan Chang and Xue Qinfeng

Since the flood season this year, there have been 25 numbered floods in major rivers in China, and more than 1,100 rivers have experienced floods exceeding the police. The situation of flood control and flood fighting is severe and complicated.

In August, what are the challenges for flood control and fighting in China? How to fight this tough battle in the critical period of flood control and flood fighting? Xinhua News Agency reporter interviewed this.

What is the current situation of flood control and fighting?

On July 30th, at the resettlement site of Hekou Middle School in Xiangtan County, Hunan Province, volunteers carried living materials. Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Si Khan photo

On the afternoon of July 31, the flood that broke into the dike two days ago in Huazhong Village, Hekou Town, Xiangtan County, Hunan Province, was accelerating to recede. "The plan for repairing the breach is still being further improved." Frontier Defense, director of the Emergency Rescue Division of China Anneng Group First Engineering Bureau Co., Ltd. said.

On July 3, in Qiming Middle School, Pingjiang County, Yueyang City, Hunan Province, members of the National Mine Emergency Rescue Chongqing Team carried out drainage work (photo of drone). Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Si Khan photo

From Pingjiang, Yueyang, Hunan, and Huarong Tuanzhouhuan, Yueyang, to Yuelin Village, Shouyue Township, Nanyue District, Hengyang, and then to Yisuhe Town, Xiangtan County, Hunan Province and Hekou Town, Xiangtan County, this is the fifth disaster relief site in the past month.

Thousands of miles away in Linjiang City, Jilin Province, the 1st and 2nd floods of Yalu River this year hit on July 27th and 28th.

The flood overflowed G331 Highway, making Lincheng Village and nearby factories in Dahu Street of Linjiang City a Zeguo. Bai Yuntian, deputy stationmaster of Century Street Station of Linjiang Fire Rescue Brigade, and his comrades-in-arms drove assault boats and launched rescue again and again.

On July 1, the militia moved the masses in Daxi Village, Tianyue Street, Pingjiang County, Hunan Province. Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Si Khan photo

At present, the flood control situation is severe and complicated.

Xu Xianbiao, deputy director of the National Defense General Office and director of the Flood Control and Drought Relief Department of the Emergency Management Department, said that since the flood season this year, the flood situation and disaster situation have been characterized by obvious rainfall in the south, repeated floods in rivers and serious local dangers and disasters.

On July 29, near the dike section of Huazhong Village, Hekou Town, Xiangtan County, Lianshui, rescuers searched for trapped people (photos of drones). Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Si Khan photo

Under the background of global warming, precipitation in China has become more extreme, and at the same time, it has been affected by El Niñ o attenuation. During the flood season, the subtropical high in the northwest Pacific Ocean has a large area and a strong intensity, resulting in obvious rainfall stages, many processes and great intensity this year.

"This year, there have been 25 numbered floods in China’s major rivers, the most since statistics were available in 1998. At the same time, the number of small and medium-sized rivers exceeded the police and the flood rose sharply. More than 1,100 rivers across the country experienced floods exceeding the police, 1.4 times more than the same period of the previous year. " Yao Wenguang, director of the Flood and Drought Disaster Prevention Department of the Ministry of Water Resources, said.

On July 30, Lu Yejiang (left), a geological disaster monitor in Fuqiang Village, Tiefeng Township, Wanzhou District, Chongqing, and Xie Xiaohong, secretary of the village party branch, inspected the houses of the displaced people in Fuqiang Village. Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Yushe

According to the flood bulletin issued by the Ministry of Water Resources on the 1st, from 8: 00 on July 31st to 8: 00 on August 1st, 39 new rivers in six provinces including Liaoji Heigui experienced floods exceeding the police. At present, the No.1 flood of the Yellow River in 2024, the No.3 flood of the Yangtze River in 2024 and the numbered flood of the Songhua River basin are evolving.

What are the key and difficult points of flood control in the next stage?

According to the hydrological forecast, extreme storms and floods occurred frequently in August in China, and the risk of disasters was high. Large floods may occur in Songhua River, Jilin section of Songhua River, Liaohe River, etc., and super-warning floods may occur in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the Yishu-Sishui system in the Huaihe River Basin, the Haihe River Basin and some rivers in Yunnan and Guangxi.

"Floods in small and medium-sized rivers are the key targets of flood control during the critical period." Yao Wenguang said.

Yao Wenguang said that there are a large number of small and medium-sized rivers in China. Although the control efforts have been intensified in recent years, the flood control standards of some rivers are still low; Some rivers have not been flooded for many years, and their flood storage capacity is weakened. In addition, their monitoring and early warning capabilities are insufficient. If local heavy rainfall occurs, the water level will rise rapidly in a short period of time, which may lead to dike overflow or breach, making it difficult to defend.

On July 27, Pingdingbao Town, Tieling County, Liaoning Province organized villages to urgently load sandbags, and the town prepared 5,000 sandbags to face heavy rainfall. Xinhua news agency

Liu Wenbin, director of the Hydrological and Meteorological Department of the Hydrological Bureau of Songliao Water Conservancy Commission, said that since late July, more than 140 rivers in Songliao Basin have experienced floods exceeding the police. Once the dike is immersed in water for a long time, it is prone to danger.

Ensuring reservoir safety is also a key work in flood control and fighting at present.

The Three Gorges Project (photo of UAV) taken on July 20th. Xinhua News Agency reporter Xiao Yijiu photo

When Fujian Provincial Water Resources Department resumed the typhoon defense work of Gemei, it emphasized that 18 dangerous reservoirs are the focus of typhoon and rainstorm defense in the future, solidly promote the work of scrapping, demoting and strengthening dangerous reservoirs, and accurately and point-to-point guide relevant counties (cities, districts) to speed up the implementation of rectification progress.

Wei Xiangyang, director of the Flood and Drought Disaster Prevention Bureau of the Yellow River Water Conservancy Commission, said that at present, there are still 127 dangerous reservoirs in the Yellow River Basin, and the risk of safe flood control of dangerous reservoirs in heavy rainfall areas is greater. At the same time, there are many warping dams in the Yellow River basin, and there are 1364 warping dams downstream. In case of extreme rainstorm, the protection is not timely, which is prone to danger.

"The reservoir water level in the previous heavy rainfall area was high, resulting in a large number of reservoirs exceeding the flood limit in Songliao Basin in the near future, and the reservoir operation risks accumulated day by day." Zuo Haiyang, director of the flood and drought disaster prevention department of Songliao Water Resources Commission, said.

In addition, we must guard against mountain torrents.

"China’s hilly area is large, the climate and terrain are complex, and the mountain torrents are wide and sudden." Yao Wenguang said that in the early stage, some areas in the south experienced many heavy rainfall processes, and the soil was saturated. Once encountering short-term heavy rainfall, it was easy to cause flash floods.

Xu Zhaoming, director of the Flood and Drought Disaster Prevention Bureau of the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission, said that some casualties were caused by geological disasters of small and medium-sized rivers in the Yangtze River basin, which to some extent exposed the lack of early warning accuracy and foresight period at the grass-roots level. The "call-and-answer" mechanism needs to be improved, and the five key links of "who organizes, transfers who, when, where, and does not return" are not implemented enough, so it is necessary to strengthen the management of small and medium-sized rivers and the prevention of geological disasters of mountain torrents.

How to fight the tough battle of flood control and flood fighting?

"In response to the above challenges, we should take the word’ pre’ first, do a good job in forecasting, early warning, rehearsal and plan, and do the work first." Yao Wenguang said.

This is the scene of the breach of the Dongting Lake levee in Tuanzhouyuan, which was filmed on the evening of July 8 (photo of drone). At 22: 31 on the 8th, the breach of the Dongting Lake levee in Tuanzhouhuan was blocked. Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Si Khan photo

Before the flood comes, small and medium-sized rivers in key areas should resolutely remove flood obstacles, improve personnel transfer and emergency rescue plans, and strengthen the defense of weak dikes.

Zuo Haiyang said that in the next stage, he will focus on the risk of superposition of continuous heavy rainfall, be highly alert to local heavy rainfall in Jilin section of Songhua River, Yalu River, Liaohe River and Lalin River, analyze and judge the flood control situation by river and region, and formulate targeted countermeasures by river basin, strengthen river management and dike inspection and defense, and do a good job in water project dispatching and application, mountain flood disaster prevention and personnel transfer and resettlement.

Harbin launched a four-level emergency response to flood control on July 31, demanding that all efforts be made to prevent and respond to floods, mountain torrents, geological disasters and urban waterlogging disasters in small and medium-sized rivers, strengthen inspections and defenses, pre-position rescue teams and materials around key areas and weak links, deal with sudden dangers in time, and decisively organize the transfer of threatened people in advance to ensure the safety of people’s lives.

On July 28th, the rescue team conducted a search and rescue operation in Yuelin Village, Shouyue Township, Nanyue District, Hengyang City, Hunan Province. Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Zhenhai photo

Xu Lighting said that the Yangtze River Committee will continue to do a good job in the key period of flood control and coordinate the flood control safety of the upstream and downstream. On the one hand, it will free up enough flood control storage capacity to ensure that flood control risks can be controlled, on the other hand, it will reduce the outflow in time, reduce the downstream flood control pressure during the No.3 flood in the Yangtze River, and accelerate the retreat of the middle and lower reaches.

On July 29th, in Linjiang City, Jilin Province, firefighters and rescuers used rubber boats to transport trapped people. Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Nanshe

The application of flood control engineering system is very important. Yao Wenguang said that according to the flood forecasting situation of different river basins, it is necessary to lay a good foundation for the "three cards" of the reservoir, river course and dike, and flood storage and detention area of the river basin flood control engineering system.

Wei Xiangyang introduced that the Yellow River Committee will do a good job in the defense of key areas in the Yellow River Basin, pay close attention to the safety of warping dams, reservoirs and projects under construction, and speed up the restoration of water-damaged projects. Supervise and strictly implement the five key measures of mountain flood prevention and early warning "calling for response" and personnel transfer. During the period of heavy rainfall, we will strengthen the early warning and reminder of the safety risks of reservoirs and warping dams, and urge the implementation of 1364 safe-haven transfer measures for manned warping dams downstream.

On July 29, at the site of the breach of Sixin Dike in Yisuhe Town, Xiangtan County, Hunan Province, the staff of the water conservancy department measured the water depth, velocity and other information near the breach. Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Si Khan photo

Flood control is in a critical period, and it plays an important role at a critical moment. Yao Wenguang said that flood control and flood fighting can’t tolerate any paralysis and luck. The water conservancy department will continue to do its best to do a good job in the safety of reservoirs and projects under construction, the prevention of floods and mountain torrents in small and medium-sized rivers, further compact the defense responsibilities and measures, and resolutely win the crucial period of flood control and flood fighting.