The air conditioner in the small conference room hissed out cold air, and the chill was overwhelming. Tong Yazhou sat in the main seat, his face solemn, and water drops on his forehead were drying up, and it was unclear whether it was rain or sweat.
He looked around the room and confirmed that all members of the county government team were present. He cleared his throat, his Adam's apple rolled, and spoke in a low and urgent voice: "The situation is urgent, so let's make it short. According to the latest monitoring and consultation results of the provincial and municipal meteorological departments, our city has issued an orange rainstorm warning, and the entire city has simultaneously launched a level 3 emergency response for flood control." He paused and glanced at everyone, "Before I came, Mayor Hu called me personally: heavy rain has continued in the southern region for more than three hours, and the cumulative average rainfall has exceeded 50 mm. Although the rainfall in the urban area started a little later than in our county, according to the real-time tracking of meteorological satellites, radar echoes, and ground monitoring stations, this rainfall is in the main rain belt, and the center is in our county!"
Tong Yazhou's voice suddenly became heavier: "Mayor Hu strictly ordered that the county party committee and county government must effectively improve their awareness of flood prevention and resistance and immediately enter emergency status! We must exhaust all means to minimize the damage caused by natural disasters to the lives and property of the people in the county!" He leaned forward slightly and emphasized, "Secretary Kuang rushed back day and night. He instructed the government to race against time and immediately deploy various response measures. We must get ahead of the flood situation!"
Tong Yazhou turned sideways and cast a sharp gaze at Zhang Shuangli, the deputy county chief in charge of water conservancy. "County Chief Zhang, how is the progress of the pre-flood storage capacity cleaning of large, medium and small reservoirs and dams in the county?"
Zhang Shuangli immediately responded: "All have reached pre-flood safety standards."
Tong Yazhou nodded slightly, and then asked: "Can the embankments of major rivers withstand the impact of the flood?"
Zhang Shuangli's face turned pale, his eyes flickered, and his voice was obviously weak: "It should...it shouldn't be a big problem."
"Not a big problem?!" Tong Yazhou frowned, his eyes were like torches, and he slammed his palm on the table. "What do you mean by 'should not be a big problem'?! The situation is urgent, and you are still hiding it from me! What is the situation? Tell me clearly!"
Zhang Shuangli was shocked by the sudden and stern shout. He lowered his head in a hurry, not daring to look directly at Tong Yazhou. His voice was as thin as a mosquito: "Yes... yes. After receiving the official letter from the County Finance Bureau before the flood season, the Water Conservancy Bureau organized a special investigation and carried out reinforcement and rectification of the weak embankments of the main flood discharge channels. The effect is obvious... but... but in Tongxiang Town, due to... due to individual reasons, some embankments have not been completely repaired yet."
His words were like a stone dropped into a calm lake. The conference room suddenly became noisy, with participants looking at each other, then whispering to each other.
I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for Tong Yazhou to ask what the vague "individual reasons" were.
But he didn't ask at all. Obviously, he knew it very well, and he didn't dare to investigate further - once it was exposed and Zheng Tong was implicated, the scene would be so embarrassing.
He deliberately slowed down his tone: "Just in case, I think we should mobilize the county armed forces department and send a militia emergency team to evacuate the personnel. The first priority is to ensure that no one dies!"
At this moment, I concluded that the water drops on his forehead were indeed cold sweat, because the fine beads of sweat were visibly increasing and gathering. It seemed that he had already made the worst prediction in his heart, and the ominous premonition gripped him tightly.
Next, he spoke in clichés such as "improving ideological awareness" and "overcoming complacency", which were obviously confusing and he hardly mentioned any specific response measures.
Finally, he turned his gaze to me, with a barely perceptible inquiry: "County Magistrate Guan, do you have anything to add?"
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