Flood discharge into the sea to protect the safety of the land - Tianjin Flood Control and Anti Flood Frontline Documentary Source | Frontline

Author: Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter Shao Xiangyun, Huang Jianglin, Liu Weizhen, Yin Siyuan

The water level of the river continues to decline, and some affected people have returned to their homes. More than 2.4 billion cubic meters of flood have been discharged into the sea

On August 17th, in Shaoqidi Village, Huanghuadian Town, Wuqing District, Tianjin, Kou Zhiming, the director of the village committee, welcomed the villagers back to the village. Photo by Sun Fanyue, a journalist from Xinhua Daily Telegraph

After more than 20 days and nights of hard work, Tianjin's flood control and disaster relief work has achieved phased results.

Affected by typhoon "Dussuri", since the end of July, rainstorm has been falling in many places in the north, and the Haihe River has experienced a basin wide flood. As the main "estuary" of floods in the Beijing Tianjin Hebei region, Tianjin undertakes 75% of the flood discharge task in the Haihe River Basin.

For Tianjin, which is low-lying and located at the end of the Nine Rivers, this is a big battle and a big exam.

In order to achieve the goal of no casualties, no dam collapse in reservoirs, no breach of important embankments, and no impact on important infrastructure, Party members, cadres, masses, and military officers and soldiers in Tianjin have remained steadfast on the front line.

The officers and soldiers of a certain detachment of the First Mobile Corps of the People's Armed Police rushed to build a dam at the Daqing River branch canal bridge. Photo by Zhao Zishuo, Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter

"Wake up step by step, respond to all"

On July 29, there was a torrential rain. Within the Tianjin Emergency Rescue Command Center, real-time meteorological updates and river water conditions are flashing on the large screen

The forecast of possible floods in Ziya River, Yongding River, and Daqing River has come, and the staff are nervous: Tianjin may face a severe situation of three routes of floods sandwiched together. This is a situation that has not been seen in many years!

That evening, Tianjin urgently convened various parties to discuss the flood situation. The next morning, after the consultation ended, Tianjin immediately activated the Level III emergency response for flood control.

A flat and efficient command system was also quickly activated.

——Comrades in charge of various departments rushed to the front line of flood prevention and control, deploying and dispatching flood prevention and mass relocation and resettlement work.

On August 2nd, at the upstream of the Duliujian River flood gate in Tianjin, hydrological personnel operated unmanned hydrological monitoring ships for hydrological monitoring. Photo by Sun Fanyue, a journalist from Xinhua Daily Telegraph

——Meteorology, water management, emergency, public security, urban management, fire rescue, and other professional backbone personnel should be quickly dispatched to the emergency rescue command center to ensure timely wake-up calls.

——Each district follows the plan to ensure smooth information flow and prepare for flood prevention, rescue and disaster relief work.

……

As the flood situation intensifies, Tianjin is first preparing to activate the Yongding River floodplain. On the afternoon of July 31st, more than 35000 people in the pan area were transferred in just 10 hours.

At 1:00 am on August 1st, Tianjin launched a Level I emergency response for flood control. At 2am, the Dongdian flood storage and detention area was put into operation. The main responsible officials of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee and Government have been rushing to the front line in recent days to dispatch flood prevention and rescue work, as well as the relocation and resettlement of the masses. Each district and department in the city takes their respective positions and performs their respective duties. Cadres and the masses braved the rain to walk up the embankment, reinforce the embankment, and identify hidden dangers

In Taitou Town, Jinghai District, Tianjin, Zhu Lei, the deputy mayor of Taitou Town, is patrolling on Beiweinian. Photo by Li Ran, Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter

Tianjin's prevention and control index coordinated the implementation of 145600 emergency rescue teams at the city and district levels, with step-by-step wake-up calls, full responses, and daily updates.

Wang Jiangang, a retired cadre of the Maritime Affairs Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources, saw the severe flood situation in the Haihe River Basin and volunteered to go to the Yongding River floodplain. He waded into the water with young people to check the danger, analyzed where the dangerous sections were, and provided advice on how to follow the flood control routes in the floodplain.

"The Yongding River floodplain has not been flooded for a long time, so I need to put in more effort to defend against major floods," Wang Jiangang said.

In the "rear area", disaster relief material reserves and allocation departments are also fully operational, ensuring the needs of the front line in an orderly manner.

On August 3rd, in Taitou Town, Jinghai District, Tianjin, workers participated in the elevation and reinforcement work of the Daqing Hebei Embankment. Photo by Sun Fanyue, a journalist from Xinhua Daily Telegraph

Vehicles transporting stones, stakes, sand, and soil materials lined up in a long queue, busily and orderly entering and exiting the rescue site. In the notebook of Zeng Tianrong, the head of the Disaster Rescue Coordination Department of the Jinghai District Emergency Management Bureau, there are clear and detailed records of the material ledger. Due to several days of high-intensity work, Zeng Tianrong's voice has become hoarse. He told that as of now, Tianjin has successfully responded to the passage of flood peaks, investigated and dealt with more than 60 dangerous situations such as dam leakage and piping, and allocated more than 30 types of flood prevention and rescue materials such as geotextiles, sand, cement, and life jackets, effectively ensuring frontline flood control and rescue.

Near Beiweinian in Qingbei District, Taitou Town, Jinghai District, Tianjin, the emergency rescue team is handling sandbags to deal with seepage from the dam. Photo by Zhao Zishuo, Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter

"If water is released for an additional minute, the upstream water level may drop by an additional centimeter."

"The upstream inflow water level is 10 centimeters higher than the downstream tidal water level."

"Continue to vent!"

This is a photo taken from a helicopter of the Duliujian River flood gate, where the Daqing River and Ziya River converge into the Duliujian River. Photo by Sun Fanyue, a journalist from Xinhua Daily Telegraph

At 17:00 on August 12th, at the mouth of the flood in the Daqing River - the Duliu Jian River moisture-proof gate, the staff were determining the gate status based on changes in water level and tide level.

Xing Jun, Director of the Duliu Jianhe Tidal Gate Management Office of the Haihe Downstream Management Bureau of the Ministry of Water Resources, told reporters that the opening and closing time of the gate should be adjusted in real time based on the water level and tide level. A dedicated person should closely monitor the water level 24 hours a day. As long as the incoming water level is higher than the tide level, the gate should be immediately lifted to release floodwater. He said, "If you add one more minute of water, the upstream water level may drop by an additional centimeter."

On August 9th, the opening time of the moisture-proof gate reached 23 hours, setting a new high of 80.78 million cubic meters of flood discharge per day.

Tianjin has a dense river network and a well-developed water system. Rivers such as the South Canal, North Canal, Ziya River, Daqing River, and Yongding River converge into the sea in Tianjin.

The South Sluice of Duliujian River in Tianjin, captured on August 2nd. Photo by Sun Fanyue, a journalist from Xinhua Daily Telegraph

According to Li Baoguo, a senior engineer at the Tianjin Institute of Water Resources, the main purpose of this flood discharge process is to allow the flood in the direction of Yongding River to flow into the sea from the Yongding New River channel, the flood in the direction of Daqing River to flow into the sea from the Duliujian River channel, and the flood in the direction of Ziyaxin River to flow into the sea from the Ziyaxin River channel. He said, "Only by coordinating upstream and downstream can Tianjin discharge floods more efficiently."

In the battle against the catastrophic flood, various regions and aspects cooperated to ensure the scientific, efficient and orderly work of flood prevention and disaster relief.

The Tianjin Municipal Water Affairs Department coordinates upstream and downstream, collaborates on water and rain conditions, communicates meteorological and scheduling measures, and issues flood forecasts for each river system, providing information support for downstream flood discharge.

Wang Hongfu, Deputy Director of the Tianjin Water Bureau, said that with the support of upstream rainfall and water information, they continuously revised the arrival time of the Daqing River in Tianjin. On August 3rd, they provided accurate forecast information to the command center one day in advance, providing sufficient preparation time for the smooth flood discharge in the Dongdian Flood Storage and Detention Area.

Staff are inspecting the warehouse inside the Tianjin Disaster Relief Material Reserve Station. Photo by Li Ran, Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter

According to Xue Feng, Deputy Director of the Information Statistics Department of the Affairs Center of Tianjin Emergency Management Bureau, on the afternoon of August 8th, Tianjin submitted an application for flood control material support, and the central disaster relief materials were shipped that evening. Subsequently, disaster relief supplies shipped from the Central Disaster Relief Material Reserve were gradually delivered to Tianjin.

With the strong support of the State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and the Ministry of Emergency Management of the State Council, more than 15000 people from 86 units of 13 central enterprises, including China Anneng, China Railway, China Railway Construction, and State Grid, quickly gathered at the front line of flood control in Tianjin to fully support flood relief work.

On the early morning of August 9th, in Taitou Town, Jinghai District, Tianjin, firefighters from the Tianjin Fire Rescue Brigade patrolled through the Revolutionary Bridge. Photo by Sun Fanyue, a journalist from Xinhua Daily Telegraph

The People's Liberation Army and Armed Police officers and soldiers have also arrived

Unity makes a city invincible. As of now, Tianjin has received over 3 billion cubic meters of upstream floods, with over 80% of them being discharged into the sea.

Officers and soldiers from a certain detachment of the First Mobile Corps of the People's Armed Police are loading sandbags to reinforce embankments at the rescue site. Photo by Zhao Zishuo, Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter

"Notify door-to-door to ensure no one is left behind."

On August 12th, Zhang Jiaquan, a villager from Pangzui Village, Beichen District, Tianjin, returned to his home. On July 31st, after the emergency relocation of over 2000 villagers in the village, he has been living outside the village for 13 days.

The streets and alleys have been cleaned up. Seeing that the over a hundred little pigs raised at home are growing well, Zhangjiaquan is grateful to the village officials.

On the day he left home, the village officials helped him take care of these little guys together.

In Taitou Town, Jinghai District, Tianjin, Cai Jie, the director of the Taitou Police Station, helped transfer people to feed pigs within the jurisdiction. Photo by Li Ran, Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter

Duan Yi, the first secretary of Pangzui Village, said that during this period, they have been patrolling the village and river, helping villagers feed livestock and poultry, and doing disinfection and sterilization and epidemic prevention in advance, waiting for the villagers to go home.

On August 17, the staff carried out disinfection and sterilization operations in Taitou Town, Jinghai District, Tianjin. Photo by Zhao Zishuo, Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter

The tension before the flood still lingers in my mind.

Since July 31st, numbered floods have occurred in the Yongding River and Daqing River, and the Yongding River floodplain and Dongdian flood storage and detention area have been put into use.

Located at the border of Tianjin and Hebei, Shaoqidi Village in Wuqing District, Tianjin is the first stop for the Yongding River to enter Tianjin. At 22:00 on August 1st, the flood head of Yongding River reached here. The day before, all the villagers had been relocated.

Kou Zhiming, Secretary of the Party Branch and Director of the Village Committee of Shaoqidi Village, said, "We have established a special work team to notify each household and ensure that no one is left behind."

After receiving the evacuation order, Wuqing, Beichen, Jinghai, Xiqing and other areas involved in the Yongding River floodplain and Dongdian flood storage and detention area rushed to set up more than 20 transfer and resettlement points, transferring and resettling more than 86000 people, of which more than 5480 people were collectively resettled.

The guarantee of the resettlement site is equally heartwarming.

The couple from Takashi Province, who are in their 60s, were the first villagers to move to the resettlement site of Shuigaozhuang Industrial Park in Xiqing District. A dormitory renovated from an office, simple and cozy. Takashi Province said that food is delivered by someone, and there is also air conditioning in the room, so food and accommodation are both good.

Transfer the masses to take care of children in the resettlement site of Qinru Garden in Xiqing District, Tianjin. Photo by Li Ran from Xinhua Daily Telegraph

"We have established a special working group, ensuring that the people have access to meals, medical treatment, and daily necessities," said Pan Yuxin, Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the Jinghai District People's Congress stationed at the resettlement site in Chilong South Street.

The care of disabled and dementia groups is a major challenge in the transfer and resettlement work. In Jinghai District, Haifuxiang Elderly Care Home has specially received over 140 elderly villagers who suffer from basic diseases and have difficulty moving.

At Haifuxiang Elderly Care Home in Jinghai District, Tianjin, staff assist family members in transporting people who are unable to move to temporary resettlement sites to the nursing home. Photo by Sun Fanyue, a journalist from Xinhua Daily Telegraph

An elderly person who had suffered from cerebral hemorrhage showed symptoms of hematuria upon arrival at the hospital. Nursing staff immediately contacted the Jinghai District Hospital in Tianjin and used an ambulance to transport the elderly person to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment, and the patient was out of danger.

Medical staff instructed the elderly to transfer their medication at the resettlement site of Haifuxiang Elderly Care Home. Photo by Li Ran, Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter

Zhang Junwu, Deputy Commander in Chief of the Tianjin Municipal Defense Command and Director of the Tianjin Emergency Management Bureau, said that in accordance with the requirements of the Municipal Defense Command deployment, all relevant districts have quickly launched contingency plans for the use of flood storage and detention areas, refined the hierarchical transfer measures of "seeking relatives and friends, special groups, and centralized resettlement", and made every effort to ensure the lives of the transferred people.

The residents of the Dongdian flood storage and detention area in Tianjin and the Yongding River flood control area should turn around as much as possible, but there have been no casualties.

As the floods gradually recede, more and more displaced people are returning to their homes.