Village Party Secretary Zhao Jinwen: Never give up on a single villager
Less than 1.7 m tall, dark-skinned, a man of few words, a pair of sneakers covered in mud - an honest and down-to-earth mountain man.
In the face of a catastrophic flood, he risked his life to evacuate and resettle the villagers, and not one of the village's more than 680 residents was killed or injured.
He is Zhao Jinwen, Party secretary of Wulihe Village, Taoquan Township, Ci County.
Never giving up on a single villager, he risked his life to evacuate 70 villagers, with no casualties
On July 30, more than 10 days after this rare catastrophic flood, water was still rushing along the washed-out roads of Wulihe Village, and both sides of the roads were lined with damaged and collapsed houses.
"The floodwater rose more than 1 m deep inside the houses, and after it receded, the silt was 30 to 40 cm thick." Du Cuilan, 68, pointed to the clear watermarks on the wall and said, "I've never seen such heavy rain in my life - it was like it was pouring from a ladle." During the flood, three rooms of her house were damaged, but all three members of her family were successfully evacuated.
At around 9 a.m. on July 19, the rain fell harder and harder. Du Cuilan and her husband hurriedly blocked the courtyard gate, hoping to keep the rainwater out, but unexpectedly the river level rose rapidly, and in an instant the water surging into the courtyard had risen to more than half a meter.
Just as the elderly couple was at a loss, Zhao Jinwen led several young people wading through the water and rushed in. "Evacuate now, it will be too late if we wait any longer." Using a small ladder in the courtyard, Zhao Jinwen pulled and dragged Du Cuilan and her husband onto the roof.
"My father-in-law is still in the room." Everyone's hearts suddenly tightened. It turned out that Du Cuilan's father-in-law was already 88 years old and had been bedridden for many years. To evacuate this elderly man, a longer ladder would be needed. Regardless of the danger, Zhao Jinwen trudged more than 100 m and carried over a wooden ladder 5 m long and weighing more than 100 jin from a carpenter's home. Then he carried the old man on his back and climbed the ladder, and with the help of other villagers moved the old man to safety.
"After receiving the flood warning, the four village officials designated responsibility areas for evacuating villagers and set up temporary resettlement sites, including the secretary's home." Yin Peisen, a college-graduate village official in Wulihe Village, explained that the village is located on both sides of a river channel deep in the mountains, with low-lying terrain. Because it is often hit by floods, the villagers built a village-protecting dike, and for many years there had been no trouble. At first, some villagers also thought the rain was not heavy and did not cooperate with the evacuation work, but Zhao Jinwen said firmly: "I am the village Party secretary, and I will never give up on a single villager."
After repeated persuasion by Zhao Jinwen, Zhao Kexing and his wife, both in their 80s, had just been evacuated when the raging flood destroyed their house; Zhao Yuanlin, 71, had difficulty walking, so Zhao Jinwen simply carried him on his back to a safe area 50 m away; Wang Qing'e, an 80-year-old woman living alone, was also carried out by Zhao Jinwen... That day, the thin and frail Zhao Jinwen carried countless villagers on his back. In the end, 25 households and 70 people in the village were evacuated. Although more than 220 rooms collapsed or were damaged, not a single person was killed or injured.
Forming a disaster relief and self-rescue team, leading the villagers to rebuild their homes without waiting or relying on others
Zhao Jinwen's home became the largest temporary resettlement site in Wulihe Village, with more than 30 people crowded into the not-so-spacious courtyard. His wife, Zhao Changying, brought out stored grain, quilts and other items to properly care for the villagers whose houses had been damaged, while her husband "went out every day at around 5 a.m. and did not come home until 8 or 9 p.m. after busying himself all day."
"Although we have suffered a disaster, we cannot just wait for relief from the Party and the government; we must also start working ourselves first." On the morning of July 30, when the reporter saw Zhao Jinwen, he was standing in the mud and water, building the damaged village-protecting dike together with the villagers. "It is still the flood season, and we must prevent the flood from striking again."
The reporter noted that many of the villagers building the dike were already over 60, yet they were still sweating profusely in the high heat. Zhao Zixiong, a 67-year-old villager, said that in the face of the flood, the village officials risked danger to evacuate the villagers and "never gave up on a single villager"; now, in restoring production, everyone should do their part.
Assisting the transport department in rush-repairing roads, organizing villagers to build the dike, distributing relief supplies... On the village committee's affairs public notice board, Zhao Jinwen would write down the progress of post-disaster reconstruction every day. He said, "With the care of the Party and the government, and the support of all sectors of society, life will always get better day by day."