In recent days, Hunan province has experienced frequent rainy weather. On March 30, heavy rain battered Cili County, Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province, China. A landslide rock flow broke out in Changtanhe Village, Jinci Street, Cili.

By virtue of the timely evacuation, 130 people have managed to escape unscathed. Meteorological departments in Hunan have delivered progressive meteorological services and adopted "631" "call and response" early warning mechanism, and built meteorology as the first line of defense against disasters.

Life rescue within 30 minutes

A landslide occurred in Changtanhe village, Jinci Street, Cili, at 1:30 p.m. on March 31. Upon the sound of a loud noise of the mountain, debris flow roared down, instantly rushed into the house, rendering a handful of houses affected. Two of the houses were badly wrecked, and parts of the village road were completely inundated, with rubble and wood scattered across the ground.

Debris flow inflicted grave destruction on the houses Photoed by ZHUO Renqing

Just 4 hours prior to the landslide, ZHUO Huayong, leader of group 6 in Changtanhe Village, Jinci Street and geological disaster observer received orange alert of rainstorm emergency released by Cili County Meteorological Office (hereinafter referred to as the Office): " in the past 1 hour Jinci street has received rainfall of up to 43.5 mm, and in the next 1 hour the rainfall will register 15 mm. Prevention of mountain torrents and geological disasters should be reinforced."

ZHUO Huayong held his nerve and instantaneously inspected the hidden points of geological disasters. At 23:59 on March 30, when he inspected the joint section of Group 6 and Group 7, he found that there was a large torrent of muddy water flowing everywhere on the ground and detected water seepage in the house.

ZHUO Huayong became cautious instantly, judged that there might be a perilus situation, and immediately reported to the village and street office, while timely informing the nearby masses to evacuate.

"Run, there is imminent landslide risk! Evacuate immediately!" At 00:00 on March 31, ZHUO Huayong braved the heavy rain to knock on doors one by one and organized personnel to evacuate.

After receiving the report, an emergency response team was organized by County Natural Resources Office, Jinci Street, and Changtanhe Village at once. ZHUO Huayong and village cadres began to evacuate the masses urgently. Within 20 minutes, 55 people from 10 households living in susceptible areas and 75 workers from the Luci high-speed project Department were all transferred.

Timely release of meteorological warnings

"Look at that car. You can barely see it." Speaking of the scene at that time, WU Min, a villager, was still terrified to imagine what would happen if he did not evacuate in time.

"After weather consultation and analysis with the Office, we have issued 13 warning messages from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. After receiving the text message, the geological disaster observer will go to the geological disaster site or the place which is susceptible to geological disasters. And if they detect a danger, people will be transferred at once." ZHANG Wei, geological prospecting unit staff from County Natural Resources Bureau said.

Before mud (slag) rock flow struck, the meteorological department issued a meteorological warning, timely adopted 'call and response'. The public received the information and moved away from dangerous places. The mud (slag) rock flow caused no causalities and safety of people's lives and property has been ensured.

Joint prevention and coordination to build the defense line

Confronted with days of rain and severe convection weather, meteorological departments at all levels in Hunan have stood at the frontline of meteorological services, and been ready to fulfill their responsibilities.

From 20:00 to 23:00 on March 30, Cili County, Zhangjiajie, Hunan was subjected to severe convection weather such as thunderstorms, gale, and short-term strong precipitation, and the maximum rainfall intensity registered 56.3 mm.

On March 29, Hunan Provincial Meteorological Service (hereinafter referred to as the Service) issued a special bulletin on meteorological information, which said that "in the next ten days, heavy rain and severe convective weather would wallop Hunan, and all places should strengthen prevention. In response to the severe convective weather in Cili, Hunan Provincial Meteorological Observatory issued yellow warning signals of thunderstorm wind at 19:22, orange warning signal of hail at 17:17, and yellow warning signals of heavy rain at 19:30 on March 30.

Zhangjiajie Municipal Meteorological Department and the Office simultaneously issued decision-making meteorological service products, and reinforced monitoring and early warning, and telephone "call and response".

From 8 o 'clock on March 29 to 8 o 'clock on March 31, meteorological departments at provincial, municipal and county levels have sent 281 batches of early warning information to those responsible for early warning through the Emergency Early Warning Information Release System, covering a total of 682.2 thousand people.

Editor: LIU Shuqiao