Death Toll of China Flood Climbs as Criticisms Mount Over Response

Epoch Times ^ | 07/24/2021 | Dorothy Li

[SeekAndFind]

The death toll has climbed in the central China city of Zhengzhou as it grapples with the aftermath of flooding, pumping water from tunnels, thick mud on roads, and cleaning up debris. More questions over the authorities’ preparedness have been raised on China’s social media.

Twelve million people in Zhengzhou city experienced severe rainfall since Saturday, and the city saw record-breaking downpour between 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday, with more than 201 mm (8 inches) in one hour, according to the meteorological authority.

The water on the street was almost waist high on Tuesday afternoon, but subways kept operating until a train was forced to stop due to water flowing into the tunnel. Over 500 commuters became trapped in darkness. Unfortunately, some lost their lives after experiencing vomit, shaking, and heavy breathing as water reached near the top of the carriage.

Desperate videos and images from commuters overwhelmed social media this week.

“I heard a woman talking about her bank accounts and other arrangements to her families. I was thinking whether I should say something? I wanted to call so many people and had so many words to say … I only sent a message to my mom, ‘mom, I am afraid I am going to die,'” a survivor who was stranded in the train for 150 minutes recalled about her experience on social media.

A post widely circulated on China’s social media pointed out there were several chances for the tragedy to have been avoided.

“It does not happen immediately from water flowing into a tunnel, spreading to bottom of the track, submerging the track, stopping the train, cutting off the power supply of the train, reaching the evacuation platform, to no chance of getting help. There was time and chances. But decisionmakers ‘didn’t grasp it and hesitated,'” said a person with the penname Zhishi Cengjing.

Identifying as a person working in the subway industry, Zhishi Cengjing criticized that time was wasted in reporting to higher authorities “level by level.” When they finally decided to take action, the water level was too high and they had to wait for the rescue team.

China’s Ministry of Transportation on Tuesday ordered subway systems to “absorb the lessons of recent incidents.” It warned them to stop operating trains and evacuate passengers promptly when facing extreme weather.

Public Scrutiny

As of Friday, the official death toll of the devastating flood in Zhengzhou climbed to 56, but videos circulated on China’s social media indicate a higher figure, in which covered bodies were transferred from a tunnel by rescuers.

The July 20 deluge caught many off guard. According to the survivors, a 4 km (2.5 mile) long tunnel, Jingguang North Road, was inundated in five minutes.

The scene has been blocked by the army while thousands of cubic liters of water are pumped up from the tunnel. Crowds who waited for news of their loved ones were dispersed by police.

The Zhengzhou Meteorological Agency repeatedly issued a red alert on Tuesday for heavy downpours from midnight on Monday. Local citizens questioned how prepared authorities had been for the deluge.

“The rain is so heavy that some places were flooded. It confused me why they did not alarm people with air defense warnings? … The alarm can warn people of the disaster,” a man who gave his surname as Wang told the Epoch Times.

“Why did the authorities not stop the operation of subway and buses throughout the deluge? Why did they respond so late and not even order schools and companies to close temporarily?” Wang said on Friday.

The last red alert was issued at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. According to regulations in China, schools should be closed, and people need to stop working when a red alert is issued.

[roadcat]

do you know where the whole “metric system” began?

Hope you know I was kidding. A cubic centimeter contains 20 drops of water. So how many cubic centimeters of water flooded those towns? Metrics are fun.

[SpaceBar]

The 20 drops of water per cc is simply coincidence and not a matter of design. That number will be different for isopropanol, very hot water, or water with a tiny amount of detergent.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Looks like the Red Chinese version of the Grand Prix at Monte Carlo except their version is underwater. You get points deducted for not staying submerged on turns. /Sarc

Re emergency services in Red China. Since most of the rescue services should be non-political, their responses should also be non-political and the people will help each other out as best they can.

I knew Chinese in Hong Kong and Taiwan who were like that. No reason to assume that the average Mainlander would be any different. It is the communist leadership and their puppets who don’t give a damn (pardon the use of this word here) about the average Chinese citizen.

[PIF]

Oh I think there were plenty of Chinese people helping each other

—
In China, the people have been trained (since the Mao’s Great Leap Forward and Tienanmen Square) not to aid strangers - no matter the crime, injury, or disaster, lest they be scammed (number two money-maker in China) or sued for all of their money and the family’s money. They just look and walk, drive on.

There are video examples of women being abducted in a crowded park in broad daylight, of children taken while people looked on and did nothing, of children being lost and asking passersby for directions or help getting home, only to be ignored or told to go away.

No one does anything in China without Party approval - the CCP makes the decisions; independent non-Party actions are not only frowned on, but may entail a visit from the Civil Police and the Guoanbu - definitely rates a brutal beating, prison time, or worse.

The early reports said the tunnel was completely flooded during rush hour - bumper to bumper both directions. That would mean hundreds of people drowned in that on instance - which is why the PLA closed off the area, in order to hide the magnitude of deaths and save the Party’s face.

[PIF]

I knew Chinese in Hong Kong and Taiwan who were like that. No reason to assume that the average Mainlander would be any different.
—
Taiwan & Hong Kong was a different worlds from the Mainland; equating one with the other is a fallacy - see #24.

[Pollard]

Identifying as a person working in the subway industry, Zhishi Cengjing criticized that time was wasted in reporting to higher authorities “level by level.”

People in a commie system aren't allowed to think freely and must seek approval for everything they do. Punishment for going against the system is severe so they end up afraid to think or act independently.

[Noumenon]

Thats what I thought. A gallon is a gallon regardless of the shale of the container.

[The Right Edge]

I just want us to go metric every inch of the way /s

[The Right Edge]

It was actually created during the french revolution. They weren’t just satisfied with getting rid of a king, they sought to erase anything that had anything to do with the king, including weights and measures. This is the guy they hired to dream it up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Maurice_de_Talleyrand.

[bert]

The video of the subway was interesting in that many still wore their masks when the water had risen up to their necks

Un mentioned is the 4.3 kilometer tunnel. The tunnel is 4+ kilometers long and 6 lanes wide. There are several videos that show a fantastic number of cars in the flooded length. The videos and other reports are indicating that there were upwards of 6,000 people drowned.

The area was sealed off and signs were posted, big signs warning onlookers to go home. The local emergency response types were removed and replaced by military.

There is severe and lengthy anger at the Communist Party that refused to act to warn or act against the flood. The CCP is in deep jeopardy

[bert]

During the current flooding, deaths were so numerous that local emergency services were removed and replaced by the military. The sheer number of dead and the unbelievable tangle of flood borne cars was so great that it was a public relations disaster for the CCP

On You tube, there are several very good and lengthy videos depicting this PR and intensely human disaster.

There are numerous clips of what you describe, people helping people.

However, the CCP made sure there was no video of the massive deaths

[Noumenon]

Can you express that in furlongs per fortnight? I’ll take my answer off the air, eh?

[cpdiii]

“Thats what I thought. A gallon is a gallon regardless of the shape of the container.”

But an imperial gallon is 1.2 USA gallons.

[Caipirabob]

Prayers for the people of China and all over the world subjected to the murderous incompetence of totalitarian leftist politics like communism, socialism and the the astounding incompetence of the democrat party.

[Paul R.]

Not a bad point. However, that initiative and self-reliance to act by US citizens is getting weaker by the day.

[Celtic Conservative]

Agreed.

CC