Chen Dong was indeed negligent this time, but with this experience and lesson learned, he established a support network in various township governments. Longteng's personnel directly connected with the local governments, and relief material channels were immediately opened wherever there was a risk of dike breach or flooding.
At the same time, they will also send rescue personnel to assist officers and soldiers, as well as local fire brigades and militia teams, in searching for trapped people in the flood area.
Arriving at the county government office building, it looked like a place that had been through a water battle; the ground was muddy, and the cement floor was covered with silt left by the flood.
Several young colleagues were splashing water on a patch of ground outside the office with buckets. Some people on the first floor were hurriedly moving appliances that hadn't been damaged by the flood upstairs. Some electrical appliances and documents that had already been damaged by the flood were placed outside the office building.
Secretary Liu said with a smile, "Our county party committee and mayor went to patrol the Poyang Lake dike. It rained all night yesterday and only stopped this morning. The rain has stopped for about three hours now, and the flood has receded a little, but I heard that the water level on the dike is almost level with the dike."
"They were worried about piping, so they brought some comrades from the Hydrology Bureau to patrol the Hukou Station. They should be on their way back by now."
Chen Dong sighed, turned around and glanced back at Afang. He saw that she was just like him, her lower body was soaked and she looked quite disheveled.
The train station was flooded, and the car that was supposed to pick them up couldn't get in. They had to wade through the water, so when they got to the office on the second floor, they quickly turned on the fans and, without caring about their appearance, took off their shoes and socks on the spot.
Secretary Liu breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that the big boss of Longteng seemed to have no airs. He gave his assistant a look, and the assistant quickly brought over a few cups of ginger tea from the tea room. A few minutes later, the driver who brought them back produced some clean clothes from somewhere and distributed them to the Longteng group.
"Aren't you going to wear any?" Chen Dong asked, seeing that Secretary Liu and the others were also soaked, but it seemed they hadn't prepared any dry clothes. He put on clean clothes as he asked, "There should be towels and blankets in the county committee office building. If you really can't find any clothes to change into, you can use these supplies temporarily."
Secretary Liu hesitated and said, "We have all the supplies, but I'm afraid we might need them urgently later. If we take them apart now, the people will be short of towels and blankets if I use them. Besides, I have to go on patrol later, and I'll be soaked in sweat sooner or later. This constant switching is so inefficient."
Along the way, Chen Dong and A Fang accompanied Secretary Liu's driver, assistant, and others back to the Poyang Lake County Party Committee office building. Secretary Liu kept talking about the common people, and Chen Dong knew that he was a good official and certainly didn't want him to feel wronged.
"Aren't you just an ordinary citizen?" Chen Dong retorted.
Secretary Liu was stunned, never expecting Chen Dong to say such a thing. He smiled sheepishly, "I am the secretary, I come from the people, so naturally I have to think about the people."
"We don't know when this flood will end," Chen Dong said thoughtfully to Secretary Liu. "You need to be mentally prepared."
He had barely finished speaking when the sound of a car braking came from outside. Judging from the sound of brakes, the people outside were in a great hurry.
"It looks like the county committee is back." The driver glanced out the window and said excitedly, "It really is! I saw the county head's car."
Upon hearing this, Afang quickly stood up and tidied her makeup.
Actually, she arrived yesterday morning, but when the flood occurred, the county committee members had already gone to the Hukou Station of Poyang Lake to inspect the situation, so she had not seen the county head and deputy county head.
Chen Dong casually took the wet towel off his head. At this moment, the county head, the deputy county head, the deputy party secretary, the director of the county public security bureau, and several other scholars-looking men wearing glasses and carrying leather briefcases entered.
"Which one is Chen Dong??" the county magistrate shouted as soon as he entered.
Chen Dong frowned, sensing that the loud voice was bringing bad news.
Secretary Liu walked up to the county head and took the initiative to introduce them: "This is the owner of Longteng, and the lady next to him is Ms. Fang and her assistant."
"Comrade Chen Dong!" The county head grabbed Chen Dong's hand without saying a word and shook it warmly. "Thanks to you."
"If it weren't for your timely delivery of relief supplies, our more than 3,000 resettled residents would still be starving."
Upon hearing this, Chen Dong breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself that this loud-voiced county magistrate was actually a straightforward and honest person.
"I'm just doing what I can."
The county head waved his hand, "As long as you contribute to the flood control efforts, you are a great hero. When the provincial party committee awards you, I will definitely remember your merits!"
After exchanging pleasantries, the county head turned to the group behind him, who looked exhausted, and said, "These experts just came from the province. They traveled a long and tiring way to our Poyang County and went straight to the Hukou station to collect data. They're all exhausted."
"Go back and get some sleep. I reckon the militia team sent by the military region will arrive by the afternoon, and then we'll have to go out again."
Upon hearing this, the young people couldn't help but let out a wail.
"No way?!"
These young people are researchers from the School of Civil Engineering and Hydraulic Engineering at Tsinghua and Peking Universities. They are recent college graduates who have just started working. Since the first flood peak occurred in Poyang Lake, they have been sent by the Provincial Water Resources Bureau to Poyang County to inspect and investigate flood control data.
From the province to the county, due to the disruption of transportation lines, they had to transfer by train and several buses before finally arriving in Poyang County. Upon arrival, they were immediately taken to Hukou Station to measure the water level and flow rate.
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