Chapter 1488 The House Was Flooded
After Xiao Peng finished dressing and left the bathroom, he called Walter and found out the whole story.
Europe is now facing large-scale flooding, including Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and France. The Netherlands is also not immune. Delft is now facing heavy rain.
Germany and Belgium were both hit hard by severe flooding, even Walter's house was submerged. Of course, Walter didn't care about the house right now; his wife and children were in France anyway. He went back to help with the disaster relief efforts. Poverty breeds cunning, and wealth breeds conscience. He learned about the disaster relief efforts in his hometown and organized people and supplies to go back and help.
In comparison, Walter's hometown on Khedira's side was in a terrible state. It was a valley nestled between mountains and rivers. More than 20 people died in the flood, and more than 400 others were missing.
The biggest problem facing Germany's ineffective disaster relief efforts is that their rescue system is too fragmented, involving local governments in different states and cities, and many of these governments are led by different political parties. By the time they have come up with a disaster relief strategy, the floods have already receded...
Walter's relief supplies and rescue team were a great help in his hometown. His act of helping with the disaster relief at his own expense earned him great prestige in the local area. After the floods in his hometown finally receded, Walter returned to the Netherlands, only to find that the Netherlands was hit by floods again.
Of course, the damage caused by the floods in the Netherlands is much less than that in Germany and Belgium.
The most important thing in the Netherlands is waterproofing.
After all, this is a low-lying country, with an average elevation of only one meter, and it's currently sinking. It's no exaggeration to say that the Netherlands' nearly thousand-year history has been a struggle with the sea and rivers. Today, the Netherlands boasts some of the best water management systems in the world, with over 1,500 kilometers of man-made water barriers protecting the Dutch from flooding. Virtually all of the country's highways are built on dams—even King William of the Netherlands studied water conservancy and worked in water conservancy projects. Furthermore, being downstream from this recent flood, they had time to prepare.
However, this does not mean that the Netherlands was free of flooding. From the south to the southeast, the entire country was hit by floods, with some river sections reaching their highest levels in two centuries. Although the Netherlands did not record casualties like Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France, the property damage was significant.
Take Delft for example, it is a water city. The name of the city "Delft" comes from the "Delft Canal". The whole city is full of waterways, small bridges and old buildings. Such sudden heavy rain cannot be drained away at all, and the whole city is affected.
Xiao Peng's Orange Garden was not spared either. The lake overflowed, turning the entire garden into a swamp. The water was knee-deep. Walter had just finished disaster relief work in Germany and was returning to continue his work.
Of course, the so-called disaster relief was just piling sandbags at the doorways of buildings to prevent water from flooding in. After all, the water couldn't be drained out, and the entire Delft had become a pool of water. There wasn't much he could do.
Even in the Netherlands, which has the most ways to deal with floods, the best way to provide disaster relief is the old-fashioned sandbags. This is quite embarrassing for those public intellectuals in China who advocate Western technology.
Xiao Peng was also helpless when he knew about this - this was a standard "natural disaster", what could he do?
I can only remind Walter to ask them to pay attention to safety, try their best to protect the property at home, and remember that safety comes first: life is the most important thing.
He also offered a sum of money as a reward for the rescue efforts: This time, the family's gardener, groom, maid, and security personnel all stepped up to the rescue. This isn't an easy task for Westerners—generally speaking, people here believe in "minding one's own business." They do their part, but don't worry about anything outside of their job description. This time, Walter's full-scale disaster relief effort was truly a rare event.
The weather in Europe right now is truly unpredictable, and they're facing a storm at sea. The Luna's advanced technology is the reason everyone can stay comfortable. This is also where the ship's value lies.
After Xiao Peng gave Walter and Alfred a few more words, he hung up the phone and returned to the bar, which was everyone's favorite place on the ship. When Xiao Peng arrived, Felix was playing with the live band there. When he saw Xiao Peng, Felix raised his head, greeted him, and continued playing there.
Xiao Peng sat on a stool next to the bar, asked the waiter for a beer and watched Felix play the piano.
"Xiao, why do you look like you're in a bad mood?" The ones who came over were Shelfina and Valarino. Ever since Valarino was hit by a tennis ball by Xiao Peng, it was not known whether he was recovering from his injury or because he felt embarrassed. This was the first time in so many days that Xiao Peng saw him walk out of the room.
These days, Shelfina often went to Xiao Peng's room to play video games, but she had never been to the mixed sauna on the ship.
Although France is full of nude beaches and nude clubs, they are extremely disgusted with the "mixed bathing" custom of their northern neighbors.
They think it's okay to run around naked, but men and women taking a shower together? That's not allowed!
Xiao Peng didn't answer the question. Instead, he turned to Valarino and said, "Valarino, is your stomach okay? I went to your room several times to check on you, but I couldn't find you. You had me worried sick. I'm sorry, this is all my fault. I'm not good at controlling the power. I didn't expect you to be so bad at receiving my serve."
Vallarino's face nearly turned green after hearing this. "Didn't I just say a few words to you the other day? You hit me with a ball, so why haven't you let it go? Can't I say a word about that mess you and Shelfina had? Even if I'm Shelfina's ex-husband, I'm still her companion on this trip, right? Don't I have any respect? I've been avoiding you for days, and you're still not giving in?"
Shelfina was kind enough to change the subject and save Vallarino from the embarrassment. "Xiao, what's wrong with you? You look unhappy."
Xiao Peng sighed. "How can I be happy? My housekeeper just contacted me and told me my house was flooded. I'd be lying if I weren't upset by something like that."
"Ah?" Shelfina was stunned. She was about to say something to comfort Xiao Peng, but Valarino couldn't contain his joy and said, "Orange Gardens was flooded? Oh, what a pity! Is the loss huge?"
"Hmm?" Xiao Peng frowned slightly and looked at Valarino and said, "Can I understand that you are gloating?"
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