Large areas of rice fields flooded and facing crop failure, flood scene in Shangzhi, Heilongjiang Province: damage to facility agriculture flooded | Introduction | Greenhouse | Shangzhi City | Old Street | One side | Villagers | Floods

When the flood struck, some people in Yishanpo Town, Shangzhi City, Heilongjiang Province did not expect that the Ant River, which nourished this fertile land, would become so "violent". Shangzhi City, which has experienced 19 consecutive floods in agriculture, suffered severe damage in this flood, and some farmland is facing a situation of no harvest.

Affected by the residual circulation of typhoon "Dusurai", Wuchang, Shangzhi and other places in Heilongjiang Province were hit by rainstorm and flood recently. According to a message released by the Propaganda Department of the Shangzhi Municipal Party Committee at around 10pm on August 4th, combined with rainfall since the early morning of August 2nd, this round of heavy rainfall in Shangzhi City is the largest since 1957, and it is estimated to have exceeded the once-in-a-century level. Starting from August 2nd, the entire city of Shangzhi has entered a state of suspension of classes, work, production, operation, and business.

Shangzhi City is a major agricultural city with a grain planting area of over 3.2 million acres. Rich in rice, soybeans, and corn, with developed facility agriculture. Shangzhi has continuous mountains and well-developed water networks, with Ant River, Dani River, and other rivers passing through the area. However, under the once-in-a-century rainstorm, the river water that once moistened the land engulfed a large area of land along the coast, and the fertile land became the country. Yimianpo Town, Laojieji Township and other areas have been severely affected by the disaster. Pengpai News learned that in this flood, an elderly man in his sixties unfortunately died in Erlidi Village, Yishangpo Town, Shangzhi City.

On the morning of August 5th, there was still a large amount of accumulated water at the entrance of Beicun Village in Yishanpo Town, and a car was preparing to wade through the water. The images in this article are all from Wang Jiantu, a journalist from Pengpai News

Over a thousand greenhouses flooded, and a century old bridge collapsed

The flood arrived in Yiyipo Town at around 8 o'clock in the morning on August 3rd. A villager at the entrance of Beicun Village, who lives in the town, saw that the water quickly rose from the low-lying area across the road to the road surface. He quickly reminded other villagers, but an elderly person in his seventies did not agree: "At most, it submerged to the ankles."

Yifangpo Town is located 20 kilometers southeast of Shangzhi City, named after a 500 meter long slope in the middle of Dazhi Street in the town. This place formed a residential area around 1875 in the first year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty. In 1897, with the construction of the Middle East Railway, merchants from Russia, Britain, Japan, Germany, South Korea and other countries set up agency offices here. The population grew day by day, and merchants gathered, gradually becoming an important transportation hub and commercial active area in the Hadong region.

The Ant River channel is roughly in an "M" shape here, and the town government and surrounding villages have densely built buildings and facilities on the south bank of the Ant River. The total number of vegetable greenhouses in the town has reached 2200, covering an area of 1850 acres. Greenhouse vegetables have gradually become the leading industry for the development of the slope economy.

According to the official website of Shangzhi City Government, the town is surrounded by mountains on three sides and water on one side. The Ant River passes through a slope town, with an average annual flow rate of 0.5 cubic meters per second during the dry season, a maximum flow rate of 998 cubic meters per second during the flood season, and an average annual flow rate of 16.7 cubic meters per second.

But the flood on August 3rd exceeded the local people's existing understanding of this river. At around 8:30 am, Zhang Zhenfeng, a villager from Xinmin Village who was working in his greenhouse, found that the river had already overflowed the river and poured into the greenhouse, quickly flooding his thighs. When he was on his way to production to check the water situation, he saw an old man from the same village who was going to the east to look at his greenhouse. "I told him to run back quickly, he was stubborn and insisted on going. I didn't pull him down, and he stumbled and submerged his phone in the water. In the end, my son intercepted him in front."

A large number of vegetable greenhouses in Xinmin Village, Yifangpo Town have been flooded and some have collapsed.

Zhang Zhenfeng spent over 400000 yuan this year to build six steel framed greenhouses and two greenhouses. The tomatoes he planted will be available for sale in just a week. In order to prevent the flood from washing down the greenhouse, Zhang Zhenfeng and his son had to take the risk of wading through the plastic film of the greenhouse, allowing the water to flow through it, and then they withdrew to the village located at a high altitude.

Several villagers in Xinmin Village reported that the highest flood level was around 11 o'clock that day. After the water receded, Zhang Zhenfeng went to the ground to inspect and found that the flood had once submerged under the eaves of a makeshift house. On August 5th, two days later, the marks left by the flood on the exterior walls of the house were still clearly visible.

Zhang Zhenfeng used to have four greenhouses. He thought his income was good, so he spent more than 300000 yuan to buy abandoned brick factory plots in the village and expand the scale. He also invited his son to plant vegetables with him. "We bought land, filled in pits, and built greenhouses, and invested a total of one million yuan. Originally, we could sell more than 300000 yuan this year, but now we have nothing left. I feel sorry for my son."

Villager Kong Xiangping and others introduced that in terms of scale, Xinmin Village is one of the top vegetable greenhouse villages in Shangzhi City, with 12300 greenhouses. About a thousand were submerged in this flood. Kong Xiangping said that, excluding manual labor, relying solely on seeds, fertilizers, etc., a greenhouse would require an investment of about two thousand yuan per year. Planting cucumbers, eggplants, and other crops in spring, while tomatoes in autumn are the main source of income. They have been on the market since mid August until around National Day. Most tomatoes are sold to the south, and even exported.

"Once the water is flooded, there will definitely be no hope this year, and I don't know what to do next year," Kong Xiangping said. "There are more bacteria in the fields soaked in the flood, which can affect crop growth.".

On the Ant River to the east of Xinmin Village, there were five bridges crossing the river side by side. In this flood, the southernmost and century old Middle East Railway stone arch bridge, as well as the newly built convenience bridge during high-speed rail construction in the previous two years in the northernmost area, were washed away. There was also a bridge built by Japanese during the puppet Manchurian period, and the bridge head was damaged. The two remaining are railway bridges on the Binsui Line.

Erlidi Village, located in the southeast of Xinmin Village, is situated on a beach on the south bank of the Ant River. There is also a small river to the east that flows northward into the Ant River. Erlidi Village was severely affected by the flood, and until August 5th, there was still deep water accumulation in the village. The small river water at the village entrance was almost level with the bridge deck. Due to the obstruction of silt and water accumulation at the bridgehead of the village, it is difficult for personnel to pass through.

Li Moushan, a villager of the village, unfortunately died in the flood, and his body was found on the morning of August 5th. On the afternoon of August 5th, at a funeral home in Yimianpo Town, Li Moushan's brother introduced, "We couldn't reach him around 9am on the 3rd and reported the incident. The government arranged for a rescue team to search for him, but the village was flooded and we couldn't find him. We only found him this morning and there were no people left."

According to Li's older brother, Li is 66 years old and a retired employee of the grain depot. He lives on the street, but there is still some land in the village. Sometimes, he lives alone in the village to facilitate farming. "People were found outside the house, and depending on the situation, they were washed over by water while running and never got up again."

Rice fields have become the land of Ze, and red beans soaked in water swell like peanuts

In addition to Yimianpo Town, Laojie Jixiang in Shangzhi City has also been damaged.

Electric power workers are rowing boats in the mechanized village to repair equipment, and beneath the water is a former rice field.

According to the official website of Shangzhi City Government, Laojieji Township is located in the southeast of Shangzhi City, 35 kilometers away from the urban area of Shangzhi. The entire administrative area of the township is 512 square kilometers, with 8 administrative villages and 62 natural villages, 4654 households, and a population of 18396, including 16412 agricultural population.

The flooded rice fields and roads in Laojieji Township.

On August 5th, a reporter from Pengpai News drove along County Road 153 and Township Road 025 from Yimianpo Town to Wuchang direction. Along the way, he saw multiple rice paddies flooded in Laojieji Township, and at least three sections of the river overflowed the road surface. In the mechanized village, the Dani River overflowing the riverbank has blocked the 025 township road, and the speed limit sign on the roadside only shows a circular sign at the top.

The villagers of Mechanized Village in Laojieji Township are looking at the river on the bridge, and the Da Ni River under the bridge once dried up.

The mechanized village is not large. It used to be a farm, but currently has more than 100 households. When the flood came, the villagers went up the hillside behind the village to take shelter, and there were no casualties.

Most of the land in the village is located on both sides of the Dani River on the east side of Township Road 025, and now it is a vast expanse of land. From a distance, some plots of land are all underwater, and some plots can see emerald green rice. However, the villagers said, "What you can see may not be good either. Rice is in its heading and flowering period now, and you are most afraid of water. Even rain can affect it, let alone soaking in water like this."

The mechanized village section of Township Road 025 has been blocked by floods, and only the top circular warning sign on the roadside speed limit is exposed on the water surface.

According to the villagers, the land at the village head has also been flooded before, and the last flood occurred three years ago. The embankment of the Dani River near here was repaired in the first half of this year.

A farmer on the east side of the 025 township road is still soaking in water, and their yard is filled with firewood. The villager across the road introduced that this household has temporarily stayed at a relative's house, with only six chickens remaining in the cage. The villagers across the road are also in a bad situation. "The water has been on the kang and we can't live anymore. We've been tidying up for two days and haven't finished yet."

A villager's house in a mechanized village is soaked in water, and the courtyard is filled with firewood.

The mechanized village has been without power for two or three days, and there is no signal from the phone. On the afternoon of August 5th, the village electrician and the staff of the power station borrowed a boat from a nearby reservoir and rowed to the transformer soaked in water to handle the malfunction. "We need to close the switch on this side in order to transmit power from other lines," they said

Under normal circumstances, driving west along Township Road 025 from Mechanized Village, near Longwangmiao Village, taking National Highway 229 and heading south can reach the territory of Wuchang City, and Longwangmiao Village is also flooded.

The bridge where the Laojiji Township Government is located is now closed to vehicles, and pedestrians must wear life jackets when crossing the bridge.

In addition to mechanized villages, the location of the Laojiji Township Government has also been affected by floods. The Dani River passes through the area, dividing the residential area where the township government is located into two parts. The only bridge that crosses the river has raised a warning line at the bridge head, and vehicle traffic is strictly prohibited. Even if pedestrians cross the bridge, they must wear life jackets provided by the on duty personnel at the bridgehead.

Compared to Bian Yi Po Town, the flood in Da Ni River in Lao Jie Ji Township occurred earlier, and some older houses on both sides of the street were washed away. Fortunately, there were no casualties.

According to the owner of a repair shop, by around 4am on the 3rd, the flood had already flooded the streets and roads. He saw that the water was strong, so he quickly took his family to hide high. When I returned, the repair shop was already in a mess, with water entering about half a meter high and several electrical appliances being soaked in water and scrapped.

The asphalt pavement on the streets of Laojie Jixiang was lifted by floods, and some old houses collapsed.

The sliding door of the Old Street Keelinchang Industrial Park was overturned 90 degrees by the flood, and inside the door was a cement road of over a hundred meters. At the end of the road was a field. After flooding the fields, it rushed through the gate along the road and then into Zhang Shuyun's house across from the park. On the afternoon of August 5th, the terrain in Zhang Shuyun's backyard was relatively low, and the accumulated water had not yet receded. The sorghum stalks were only exposed on the water surface. In addition, when the flood carried sediment through the courtyard walls and the hallway between the houses, it pushed down the wooden stacks and toilets against the walls.

When Pengpai News visited, Zhang Shuyun and her son were busy organizing firewood piles. Zhang Shuyun said that her family has relatively little land. Last year, she rented five plots of land to grow rice, but as a result, she was hit by frost and her harvest was reduced. I was hoping for a better year, but unfortunately, I was hit by floods again. "Renting land costs 40000 yuan per year, while planting land costs around 50000 yuan per year."

After tidying up the firewood pile, Zhang Shuyun began cooking. "My aunt and her family are flooded and unable to live in our house. They have been living and eating in our house for the past few days. They have raised dozens of sheep and chickens, and most of them have also drowned." Zhang Shuyun's family soaked some soybeans and rice in water, and the soybeans hanging on the wooden board had already sprouted. The rice in the snake skin bag was fermenting, and it felt hot when inserted into it, reaching 30-40 degrees Celsius.

A villager's red beans were soaked in water, and the soaked red beans were as big as peanuts.

Comparison of size between untreated red beans and soaked red beans.

The Wang Yu family, who lives here, did not grow rice and instead planted some red beans. Last year, she complained about the low price and put over 60000 kilograms of red beans into the warehouse. As a result, she was flooded a lot in this flood. The dryer was on the opposite bank of the river, and Wang Yu couldn't transport the beans over. He had to pull them to the drying yard more than ten miles away to spread them out for drying.

In just two days, red beans were soaked to the size of peanuts. Wang Yu said, "Now it can only be sold as feed, about one kilogram for one yuan."