Weak links in rural flood control and disaster resilience need to be addressed urgently
Every disaster is a test of our awareness and capacity for disaster resilience. This flood disaster reminds us that we should not only strengthen attention to and rescue efforts in affected rural areas, but also examine the building of rural flood control and disaster resilience capacity from the perspective of urban-rural integration. By consolidating the foundations a bit more, building in a bit more lead time, and doing a bit more organization and protection, rural areas will have more strength to withstand the damage of natural disasters.
A flood disaster has exposed the deficiencies in the drainage systems of many cities. What about the situation in rural areas? Let us look at a set of reports: on July 1, the bridge at Yejiawan in Dingjiazhai Village, Yanjiahe Town, Macheng City, Hubei Province, was broken by floodwaters, and the Yejiawan group on the east bank of the river became an "isolated island"; since July 18, heavy rain to torrential rain has fallen across Anyang County, Henan Province, affecting 8 townships and 180 villages. Due to cut-off transportation and communications, 8 villages in Duli Town were out of contact for a time... A careful analysis of the disaster data released by various places shows that most of the collapsed houses were in rural areas, and there were also more casualties, requiring more attention and rescue.
This disaster situation has exposed the weakness of rural infrastructure, especially the inadequacy of water conservancy construction. Although in recent years China has increased investment in rural water conservancy facilities, overall the current standards for rural flood control and drainage are still relatively low, and the flood control capacity of small and medium-sized rivers and small and medium-sized reservoirs is relatively weak. Some rural flood dikes are still earthen dams built by manual tamping in the 1960s and 1970s, and once heavy rain and a major disaster occur, they are hard pressed to function; in addition, due to neglect of management, some areas, especially traditionally arid areas in the north, have the problem of occupying flood discharge channels and "people competing with water for land." Some dam bottoms and slope surfaces have already been planted with trees and crops, and once an above-standard flood occurs, breaches and overtopping are extremely likely. The role of traditional ponds used in rural areas for storing water and retaining floods has also been diminished: some have long been unrepaired, some are silted up and abandoned, some have been filled with garbage, and some have even been leveled and built over with houses or planted with crops. When a flood comes, there is nowhere for it to discharge, so it can only rage unchecked and worsen the disaster.
In addition, rural areas are also places where the social assistance system is weak. Because some villages are themselves remote and scattered, it is very difficult for outside rescue forces to reach them at the first moment. At the same time, as large numbers of young and strong laborers go to cities to work, this poses a severe challenge to the traditional organization and mobilization for flood prevention and control in rural areas, so that when floods come, some villages unexpectedly cannot find many strong laborers capable of fighting floods and dealing with emergencies. In those "hollow" villages where only the elderly and children remain, it may even be possible only to mobilize elderly people in their sixties and seventies to go onto the dikes to patrol them.
To solve the problem of rural flood control and flood resilience capacity, it is first necessary to strengthen the sense of responsibility for rural flood control and flood resilience and increase investment in rural water conservancy infrastructure. While keeping an eye on major rivers in flood control and waterlogging prevention, we must also pay more attention to the governance of small and medium-sized rivers. Major rivers and small and medium-sized rivers are like the blood supply system of the human body: if the aorta is already very strong but the "capillaries" are very fragile, it is impossible to ensure smooth circulation. We must establish the awareness that "to prevent major floods, we must certainly plug small breaches," and vigorously strengthen the governance of small and medium-sized rivers, the repair of small and medium-sized dangerous reservoirs, and the upgrading and transformation of small and medium-sized electric pumping stations. All localities should also consciously incorporate villages into regional irrigation and drainage systems, and build an effective "flood control ring" that includes major rivers, small and medium-sized rivers, reservoirs at all levels, and rural ponds and small ditches and channels.
Combine storage and discharge and give full play to the role of traditional rural irrigation and drainage systems, and put an end to the problem of "people competing with water for land." River channels, ponds, and ditches and small channels in farmland constitute a complete rural irrigation and drainage system. In the process of economic development, all localities should embrace a bit more of the concept of scientific planning. Especially in the new round of urbanization construction, the relevant provisions of the Flood Control Law and the Water Law must be strictly implemented. It is necessary both to strengthen planning and to manage strictly, fully give play to the flood discharge capacity of river channels and the function of reservoirs, depressions, and lakes in regulating and storing floodwater, adopt measures such as regular dredging according to local conditions, open up the "meridians" of rural rivers, ditches, and ponds for flood control and flood resilience, strengthen the capacity to store and discharge rainwater and floodwater, and ensure that floodwater has a way out.
It is necessary to organically combine early warning with scientific disaster resilience to ensure "safety redundancy." Rural flood control and flood resilience concerns the safety of life and property of hundreds of millions of people, and no amount of emphasis on it is excessive. After entering the flood season, governments at all levels should do all kinds of early warning preparation work with the mindset of ensuring absolute safety, leave a certain "safety redundancy," and would rather prepare early and prepare more than prepare late and prepare less; formulate detailed flood control emergency plans in advance to ensure they can be launched quickly when a major disaster comes; strengthen inspections for flood control and flood preparation, promptly find and fill gaps, and prevent trouble before it occurs; keep various rescue forces on standby at all times so that once a dangerous situation arises they can carry out emergency rescue quickly; and carry out precise measurement and reporting and forecasting in response to ever-changing flood conditions, and ensure that early warning information is delivered to farming households at the first moment so that people can evacuate in time.
It is necessary to focus on combining general attention with key attention and increase prevention and control of weak links. When floods come, special attention should be paid to screening and assisting residents in areas with hidden dangers of mountain torrents and mudslides, primary and secondary schools, nursing homes, and other special areas, and more attention should be given to some "hollow villages" and remote villages, trying as much as possible to have dedicated personnel watching and dedicated plans. When disasters come, some communication facilities are often damaged, while those left behind in "hollow villages" are mostly the elderly and children, who lack the ability to use mobile phones, email, and other modern technologies, and often become blind spots for receiving early warning information. This requires combining modern technological means with traditional means in disaster prevention and resilience. Through village loudspeakers, striking washbasins with wooden sticks, or going door to door to notify people, it is possible to ensure coverage reaching every village and implementation reaching every person, without missing a single household or leaving out a single person.
Every disaster is a test of our awareness and capacity for disaster resilience. This flood disaster reminds us that we should not only strengthen attention to and rescue efforts in affected rural areas, but also examine the building of rural flood control and disaster resilience capacity from the perspective of urban-rural integration. By consolidating the foundations a bit more, building in a bit more lead time, and doing a bit more organization and protection, rural areas will have more strength to withstand the damage of natural disasters.