Chapter 333 Emergency Boat Rush
The loudspeaker urgently revealed that the most seaward-facing part of Xianggu Village's houses had been flooded and some people were missing.
The loudspeaker indicated that personnel from the county and town had already gone to the rescue, but as the typhoon was still ongoing, it was not recommended that villagers from other villages go to the rescue on their own.
At the same time, the loudspeaker reiterated that people should not go out or go near the sea during typhoons. Villagers whose houses are close to the sea should pay special attention and evacuate quickly if necessary.
Who could sleep after hearing this news? Liang Ziqiang quickly got out of bed, dressed, and opened the locked door.
In the main room, Liang's father and mother were discussing the typhoon. When they saw him coming out, Liang's mother looked at him and said:
"Your room is really unbreakable. There was chaos outside, but you slept soundly all night without making any noise!"
No, actually my room wasn’t peaceful the whole night last night…
"There shouldn't be any problems with the breakwater in our village, right?" Liang Ziqiang asked his father hurriedly.
Although the terrain of Juzipo, which I chose, is relatively high and will not be affected even if the embankment is lost, no one wants anything to happen to their own village!
According to his memories from his previous life, he had the impression that there had never been an embankment collapse accident in Changwang Village. If there had been one, he would have definitely heard about it even if he was out of town.
"Fortunately, the seawall was rebuilt and reinforced in the second half of last year, otherwise it would be hard to predict the outcome with such a strong typhoon this time!" Liang's father replied.
Most of the day passed.
It was not until after noon that the typhoon's winds gradually weakened, but the waves on the sea were still surging, and were much bigger than usual.
The loudspeaker sounded again, this time encouraging individual villagers to go to Xianggu Village to help with the rescue.
But the prerequisite is that the family has a large ship of about 20 meters, the kind that can withstand strong winds and waves. Only then is it suggested to go to the coast of Xianggu Village to help transport sandbags and stones, and urgently repair the seawall. At the same time, it also helps to evacuate some villagers and resettle them elsewhere.
After listening to everyone, it turned out that Liang Ziqiang was the only person in the entire village of Changwang who met the requirements.
His 24-meter steel ship usually goes to the deep sea, and its ability to resist wind and waves is completely different from that of ordinary wooden boats.
When a strong typhoon lands, of course one has to hide in a safe harbor. However, now it is afternoon and the typhoon has weakened significantly. Other ships dare not move, but his steel ship can already sail out of the safe harbor.
Just as I was hesitating, someone with fluttering clothes, like a fairy, came towards me against the wind along the village road. As soon as he reached the door, he called out to Aqiang inside.
"Are they all here?"
It was the village chief Zhong Yongrui who came in and said something to Liang Ziqiang and his son. Where else could you stay in this weather? After a few greetings, Zhong Yongrui began to talk about the miserable situation in Xianggu Village. The loudspeaker did not reveal so much detail, but Zhong Yongrui knew more from the phone call from the town, and now he was telling Liang Ziqiang and his son everything.
Having said so much, he naturally wanted to mobilize Liang Ziqiang to drive his big ship to Xianggu Village to help provide support.
Liang Ziqiang had never expected that Zhong Yongrui had such a tough side to his words, and even his mother cried when she heard what he said.
Liang Ziqiang himself felt very uncomfortable listening to this. After all, they were all villages in the same town!
Anyway, the wind has become weaker, so it is still safe to sail out on a large ship and only move along the coast. Liang Ziqiang thought about it and nodded in agreement.
Unexpectedly, Liang's mother, who had just been shedding tears of sympathy, stopped crying in an instant when she saw Aqiang going out in the wind to sail, and immediately opposed letting him go.
Chen Xiangbei also pouted, looking unhappy. She secretly pulled his sleeve, worried that he would be in danger if he went out.
Liang Ziqiang comforted his mother and wife with a few words before following Zhong Yongrui out.
It was impossible to rush to Xiaolang Village to find Zhu Tianpeng at this time, so he found Lu Song and Deng Zhaocai from the same village. Although these two people were not as experienced as Zhu Tianpeng, they could also serve as partners for Liang Ziqiang, and there was no problem in being responsible for the lookout for a short period of time.
The two men got on the boat without saying a word.
Deng Zhaocai, in particular, brought a pair of shoulder poles and baskets from home in case he was needed to help carry sand and soil. Anyway, he was more active than Liang Ziqiang.
His mother had just fallen asleep after taking the medicine. When she heard the noise, she tried to sit up and urged Deng Zhaocai weakly: "Acai, human lives are at stake. You should follow us quickly. Save as many as you can before coming back!"
This made Liang Ziqiang sweat. This awareness is really incomparable to that of his own family!
Zhong Yongrui also boarded the boat, and the four of them sailed all the way to Xianggu Village. Compared to usual times, the wind and waves along the coast were still quite strong.
The usually azure blue sea was now covered with white waves. Each wave came up very high, hitting the gray-blue hull, making a loud noise, and then shattering.
With waves like this, an ordinary wooden boat could really be overturned in the water, so there's no big suspense.
Liang Ziqiang was driving the boat and specifically reminded Zhong Yongrui, Deng Zhaocai and the others to stay inside the cabin and not get close to the side of the boat, even if the boat had high iron railings. Lu Song, who was in charge of lookout, also tried to stand inside and not too close to the bow.
The wind had only weakened but had not completely stopped. It was not impossible that someone could fall off the railing into the sea if they were not careful.
To be honest, Liang Ziqiang had never sailed in such turbulent waves before. Along the way, the big ship pierced through the waves, cut through them, and sailed along the coast all the way to Xianggu Village.
The scene was more lively than expected. There were already several boats parked on the shore, and people were constantly getting on and off the boats.
There were no small boats, but there were two large steel ships similar to Liang Ziqiang's, 24 meters long.
There was another ship, parked in deeper water. The ship was so majestic that it was probably more than 30 meters long, much longer and larger than Liang Ziqiang's big steel ship.
"A Qiang, it's you! It's only been a short time and you've already bought a big steel boat?" Someone shouted to Liang Ziqiang on another boat.
Liang Ziqiang recognized him at a glance. It was Old Xu, a police officer from the town police station. Besides him, the director Gong Jin was also there.
Liang Ziqiang also greeted them, and then took the initiative to ask in a hoarse voice: "Old Xu, Chief Gong, what can I do for you? Tell me now!"
Gong pointed at another middle-aged man with a high hairline and said, "Mayor Meng is here too. Let's listen to his arrangements and see what he says!"
When the branch secretary Zhong Yongrui saw Mayor Meng, he became alert, got out of the cabin and ran towards the other side.
As the two boats came closer, Zhong Yongrui leaned his entire upper body over to the other boat to listen to the arrangements.
Other boats were already transporting sandbags and stones, so Liang Ziqiang's boat was assigned to pick up the rescued villagers.
As the hole in the seawall has not been blocked yet, seawater is still pouring into the village, and some houses have been completely submerged.
Many villages these days only have one floor, and after the flood, there was nowhere to hide. The villagers climbed onto the roof, stood on the wooden beams, and waved for help.
According to Director Gong, some villagers have been rescued and relocated to other villages, but more are still around the corner, waiting to be rescued.
As they were talking, two rubber boats were lowered from the largest steel ship, which was about 30 meters long.
Liang Ziqiang was stunned for a moment.
For a moment, he thought he had traveled back to the new century of his previous life.
How could such a sturdy rubber boat be available in this era? He thought it was only available in the 1990s. In the various flood relief news in the 1990s and the new century, this kind of rubber boat was often seen...
Director Gong took a few people and boarded the two black rubber boats to the village. Although the sea was rough and the waves were strong, the water in the village was not turbulent, so the rubber boats could be operated. Their small size made it convenient to shuttle between the village houses.
"Is this a rubber boat sent by the city or the county? Our Yanghai rescue equipment is pretty good!"
Seeing Old Xu resting there injured, Liang Ziqiang asked casually.
"In the city or the county?" Old Xu shook his head. "Neither. It was donated by a private individual!"
"Donated? So rich?!" Liang Ziqiang was even more surprised.
"Did you see that largest steel ship?" Old Xu raised his hand and pointed at the 30-meter ship. "It's from Qingwei Group. The boss, Dai Qingfu, also came from our Pengao County. Now he has returned from abroad with a lot of money. He has invested in so many businesses in Yanghai in the past few years that it's hard to count them all! This time, when they heard that a village in Pengao County was hit by the disaster, they immediately sent a 30-meter ship over and donated a few rubber boats!"
"Oh, by the way, this rubber boat was produced by him. He has a factory that specializes in making rubber boats!" Old Xu added.
"Qiangzi, you are now the most profitable young man in our Pomfret Village. If you work hard, maybe one day you can set up a Ziqiang Group and become a big boss like Dai Qingfu!"
While waiting for the rubber boat to pick up the villagers on the rooftop, Zhong Yongrui joked to Liang Ziqiang.
(End of this chapter)
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