On July 5, 2024, Dongming County, Heze City, Shandong Province, suffered a sudden natural disaster. At around 2:30 p.m., a rare tornado hit Chengguan Street, Caiyuan Market Town and Shawo Town in Dongming County, bringing huge panic and losses to local residents. The disaster not only caused the tragedy of one death and 79 injuries, but also caused power outages in some areas of the county, which had a serious impact on local production and life.
Tornadoes, an extreme weather phenomenon, are not common on the mainland. Its appearance is often accompanied by strong swirling updrafts that are capable of causing massive damage in a short period of time. The tornado that hit Dongming County this time is a typical manifestation of this destructive power.
According to the report of the Dongming County Emergency Management Bureau, after the disaster, the county party committee and the county government quickly activated the emergency response mechanism. An emergency command center composed of public security, emergency response, health care, fire protection, civil affairs and other departments was immediately set up to carry out rescue work with all its might. This rapid response reflects the great importance and ability of local governments to respond to emergencies.
Despite the swift pace of relief efforts, the disaster took a tragic toll. One person was tragically killed and 79 people were injured of varying severity, behind these figures are the pain of 79 families and the eternal loss of a life. Fortunately, the injured people were taken to the hospital in time, which bought valuable time to reduce more casualties.
In order to understand the destructive power of the tornado more intuitively, a reporter interviewed the staff of a local elderly service center. She described: "There was a rumbling, there was a wind mixed with the sound of crashing, four trees toppling, the bike shed gate damaged, and the windows being blown down. The description vividly captures the horror of a tornado. Fortunately, the elderly people at the center were indoors and escaped the disaster.
In multiple live videos, you can see images of the tornado raging: columns of wind spinning in mid-air rolling up various items, electric vehicles lodging on the road, leaves and branches piling up in front of cars, vehicles damaged by toppling trees. These images all show the power of nature.
In the aftermath of the disaster, a serious problem facing Dongming County was power outages in some areas. The owner of a tile shop told reporters that after the tornado, the power went out in the store, and even the mobile phone could not be used due to insufficient power. This situation is prevalent in several communities in the western part of the county.
Faced with the problem of power outages, Dongming County Power Supply Company acted quickly. A staff member told reporters that they are actively dealing with the problem in accordance with the emergency plan, and the staff is braving the rain to repair it under the premise of ensuring safety. Although it is difficult to determine the exact time for the restoration of power due to bad weather, the power supply company promised to release relevant information in a timely manner through official channels such as county television stations. This positive and responsible attitude has undoubtedly brought some comfort to the people affected by the disaster.
This disaster is not an isolated incident. The Heze Meteorological Observatory issued an orange warning of strong convection at 3:50 p.m. on the same day, and it is expected that from the afternoon to the night of the same day, other counties and districts may also have thunderstorms and strong winds above 8~10, and extreme disastrous weather such as tornadoes, short-term heavy precipitation or hail may occur locally. The issuance of this early warning information provides valuable time for the surrounding areas to take precautions.
In the face of such a severe natural disaster, we can't help but ask: what can we learn from this? How can we better respond to similar disasters that may occur in the future?
First, this incident once again highlights the importance of the meteorological early warning system. Although the meteorological observatory issued an early warning in a timely manner, how to make the warning information spread faster and more widely to every person who may be affected is still a question worth pondering.
Second, the improvement of the emergency response mechanism and drills are particularly important. The rapid response of the Dongming County Government is commendable, but there is still room for improvement in how to organize a more effective rescue in a shorter time.
Third, the resilience of infrastructure to disasters also needs to be further strengthened. The power outage has exposed the vulnerability of the power system in the face of extreme weather, and how to improve the resilience of power facilities to ensure that power supply can be quickly restored after a disaster is an urgent problem to be solved.
Fourth, the public's awareness of disaster prevention and self-rescue ability should not be ignored. How to protect yourself when a disaster strikes and how to help each other after a disaster are basic skills that every citizen should master.
At present, the work of emergency rescue, aftermath disposal, and on-site clean-up is still in progress. I sincerely hope that the injured people will recover as soon as possible and that normal order can be quickly restored to the affected areas. We also hope that the relevant departments can sum up the lessons learned from this time, further improve the disaster prevention and mitigation system, improve the ability to deal with extreme weather, and ensure the safety of people's lives and property to the greatest extent.
In the face of natural disasters, human beings seem so small. But it is precisely at such moments that we can see the brilliance of humanity more - the rescue workers bravely rescue the rescue regardless of their personal safety, the neighbors help each other, and the whole society is in the same boat. Let us work together to overcome this disaster and rebuild our homeland.