Chapter 484 - The Typhoon Arrives
"The carts are no problem. I'll give you another ten—plus twenty Purple Lightnings. As for loudspeakers, the Planning Committee probably won't approve any more." Wu De said. "You can't keep relying on noise. Think of some other forms of mass entertainment that people enjoy—something simpler, preferably not requiring electricity."
"To ensure the propaganda offensive remains persistently effective," Ding Ding instructed his "generals" at a special Propaganda Department meeting, "the interval between propaganda cart rounds through each village must be shortened as much as possible—"
"Report!"
"We're the Propaganda Department, not the military. No need for that." Ding Ding corrected the propaganda trainee who had stood up ramrod-straight to report—the Army had trained these people into conditioned reflexes. "Just speak directly."
"Yes." The man clicked his heels together in proper German style. Ji Denggao had previously made his living as a fortune-teller in Guangzhou—a profession with huge wealth disparities. When Ji Denggao, whose skills were mediocre, had been on the verge of starving to death on the streets, he was saved by the Guangzhou Station's routine collection operations. He was subsequently sent to Lingao, studied for several months, and then came to the Propaganda Department to apply his silver tongue.
"Currently there are still too few propaganda carts. A full cycle takes forty days to complete. Adding a few more carts would help—the loudspeakers are very effective."
"I have carts, but no more loudspeakers to put on them." Ding Ding shook his head. Just as Wu De had anticipated, since high-powered speakers couldn't be manufactured locally in the short term, the Planning Committee held them tightly—not a single extra unit would be released.
"Could we get more drums and gongs?"
"Fine." Though he said this, actual stock might not be available. Drums and gongs were simple items, but in Lingao they were equally unavailable—this remote little county couldn't obtain any handicraft items requiring even moderate skill. At minimum, they would have to be purchased from the prefectural capital.
"With extra drums and gong equipment we could organize several lion dance troupes..."
"Lion dance?!" Ding Ding had an awakening—how had he not thought of this! This was a beloved form of folk entertainment among the Chinese people.
"There are craftsmen who can make the lion heads and people who know the dances." Ji Denggao was Cantonese and very familiar with lion dance activities. "Country folk love watching spectacles. Lion dances are excellent for gathering crowds."
"Not bad. A very good idea." Ding Ding jotted a note in his notebook: write slogans on the lion costumes.
Ji Denggao's face lit up with excitement that his first suggestion had been accepted: "Thank you, Chief!"
"This task is assigned to you." Ding Ding said, writing out an authorization letter and stamping it with the Propaganda Department's seal. "First organize ten lion dance troupes. I'll go to the Planning Committee about the drums, gongs, and lion-making materials." He added, "This is on an amateur basis, but we can give some allowances. It'll provide entertainment for everyone in the meantime."
"Understood, I'll get right on it!" Ji Denggao knew he had been entrusted with an important mission. His eyes shone, and unconsciously he slipped back into "old speech." Natives called the Mandarin spoken by Australians "new speech," while their local tongue was "old speech."
While Ji Denggao's lion dance troupes were still being organized, a typhoon of the kind common to Lingao autumns arrived. Wind and rain washed away slogans and notices, temporarily extinguishing the blazing propaganda offensive and bringing the transmigrator collective's storming Great Leap Forward to a halt.
The typhoon from the Beibu Gulf and cold air from the north worked together to create a storm exceeding Force 11—far surpassing the Force 8-9 gales of summer.
Cold air and tropical typhoon stirred up towering waves. Torrential rain poured down. The Wenlan River rose rapidly—summer was already Lingao's rainy season with abundant rainfall, keeping the Wenlan's water level persistently high. With this storm added on top, floods immediately swept through the middle and lower reaches.
Before the typhoon arrived, the newly-established weather station in the Gaoshan Ridge area had issued a timely weather warning—not based on satellite imagery, of course, but on barometers and radar. The weather radar from the Fengcheng had proven to be a true "divine artifact," predicting the typhoon's arrival earlier than barometers alone.
Though the transmigrator collective hadn't encountered typhoons in the autumn of 1628, the Executive Committee had been aware of Hainan's typhoon problems. Lingao averaged five storms of Force 8 or above annually—the least wind-prone area in Hainan. The transmigrators had still made provisions against wind and flood in their construction. Events proved this extra investment was necessary—the 1629 typhoon came in fierce. Rain, wind, and floods swept through the Wenlan River basin, destroying houses and fields, sweeping away people and livestock, flooding equipment...
The transmigrator collective had made all precautionary preparations in advance: reinforcing facilities, relocating materials, rushing to harvest grain, evacuating personnel. But immovable structures and heavy equipment still suffered losses. Waves destroyed parts of the Bopu dock facilities, throwing more than ten vessels onto the shore. More than half the wooden structures at the quarantine camp were damaged.
Industrial enterprises suffered heavy losses. Gales tore off part of the glass factory's roof; three annealing furnaces were destroyed by rainwater, forcing the factory to cease operations for repairs. Some of the chemical plant's towers, tanks, and pipes were blown down. Because of damage to buildings, roads, and partial flooding of some factory buildings, all industrial enterprises under the Industrial and Energy Committee were forced to halt production. The power line between Bopu and Bairun was severed; landlines and the newly-laid telegraph were completely interrupted. Roads were washed out in multiple places, completely cutting off traffic between Bopu and Bairun.
The Agricultural Committee's breeding base suffered severe damage to its pens and shelters, though the livestock had been relocated and escaped harm. Some fields were destroyed, but all farmland that had completed standard renovations withstood the wind and rain with minimal losses—validating the effectiveness of standardized farmland development.
Over a hundred structures collapsed in Bairun City and Bopu Base. The prefab simple-housing dormitories in Bairun City were mostly destroyed—fortunately, most transmigrators had already moved out of the dorms. Their personal belongings had been placed in container-converted warehouses before the typhoon and were unharmed.
Thanks to the weather station's early warning, people and materials were evacuated and relocated promptly, limiting losses. The National School had suspended classes in advance, transferring all children to bases in the Gaoshan Ridge area for shelter. The Grand Library's materials and important equipment had also been moved to the relatively safer Gaoshan Ridge area well ahead of time.
But losses among ordinary people were quite severe. The Wenlan River basin particularly suffered from flooding as the waters rose. Many households that hadn't finished harvesting their grain suffered major losses. Many houses were destroyed; human and animal casualties were considerable.
Bopu Harbor, just ravaged by the typhoon, was a scene of devastation. Debris floated and drifted—some from the sea, some washed from the land by floodwaters. Among the flotsam were human and animal corpses, bellies swollen. The primitive boom cranes erected along the shore earlier had been swept away without a trace. Dozens of meters of wooden jetty had been destroyed. Ships thrown ashore lay tilted on the beach. A work crew was dismantling the hulls to salvage the lumber.
On the dock's stone quay, scattered remains of burnt incense and paper ash marked where many families who had lost loved ones in the typhoon—unable to find bodies—could only conduct memorial rituals from the shore.
Health department personnel organized laborers to recover floating human and animal corpses from the harbor. A smell of various degrees of decomposition filled the port. The shadow of an epidemic outbreak loomed over the transmigrator collective.
Most of the transmigrators had never had direct experience with natural disasters—they'd only seen their power on television. Now they discovered they not only had to face natural disasters but also deal with the aftermath—in other words, emergency rescue and disaster relief wasn't the People's Liberation Army's job anymore. It was now the Executive Committee's responsibility.
"All right, we'll need to temporarily set aside various projects and focus on emergency rescue and recovery first." Wen Desi said helplessly at the Executive Committee's emergency meeting.
Shan Daoqian was assigned to urgently repair the damaged roads and communication lines, ensuring contact between the various bases—without communication, people inevitably became nervous. This applied to both transmigrators and indigenous personnel equally. Morale had to be stabilized immediately. The Executive Committee dispatched several teams to separately contact the cut-off bases and conduct inspection and comfort visits. For this purpose, they specially put back into service several agricultural vehicles and off-road motorcycles that had previously been mothballed.
The Health Department organized personnel to clear corpses and garbage, using bleach for disinfection and epidemic prevention. The Agricultural Committee repaired embankments and irrigation channels. The Construction Company patched up damaged buildings and facilities. The Army and Militia moved into key points to maintain order while clearing debris...
These were all expected matters. But the thornier problem emerged soon after—refugees appeared. In the three or four days following the typhoon, hundreds of refugees had flooded into the county seat begging. They didn't dare go to East Gate Market because of the regulations against vagrants there.
Reports from all quarters indicated this year's disaster was quite severe. Wu De sent people to all locations to order the village liaisons to come immediately for a meeting to report on conditions.
"Prepare to open gruel stations and build temporary camps." The Executive Committee issued instructions to the Civil Affairs Committee. "Receive and provide relief to refugees!"
Refugees who had lost their homes and grain had no choice but to flee seeking charity. This would not only cost valuable population; large numbers of displaced people also increased the risk of epidemics.
The Civil Affairs Committee accordingly set up refugee reception stations outside the county seat and outside East Gate Market to provide relief for homeless people whose houses had collapsed. They also planned to open gruel stations at multiple markets throughout the county and distribute grain from the granaries to provide relief.
"Go visit Wu Mingjin right away. We need to discuss disaster relief with him."
Wu Mingjin was quite enthusiastic about this matter. After Xiong Buyou visited him, he personally ordered the county granary opened and grain allocated.
"The state of the county treasury—your distinguished company surely knows better than I do." Wu Mingjin said with concern. "The accounts may balance, but as for how much grain there actually is..." He performed the classic Chinese bureaucrat's head-shaking sigh, indicating he knew the situation was bad but there was nothing to be done—and of course, he bore no responsibility.
(End of Chapter)