Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 517 Flood Discharge

Xu Xiaoyan walked towards Qing City empty-handed.

All she wants to know right now is what happened upstream.

Lan Yue heard the news about the dam releasing water from her boss, and she made preparations accordingly. However, the problem was that the water flow was not right.

Although she had never lived near the dam, she still had basic common sense.

Normal water release and flood discharge are two different things.

Releasing water is a planned and controlled release of reservoir capacity, although the water flow will increase.

However, the rise in water levels downstream is predictable and will not surge to the point of flooding the riverbanks in a short period of time.

Discharging floodwaters is different; it's an emergency measure taken after the reservoir's water level exceeds the warning line, involving a large volume of water, a fast flow rate, and a powerful surge.

If those downstream are not notified in advance, they will have no time to react.

Today's water level is 100% due to flood discharge.

But that doesn't make sense. If it's a flood discharge, why did the boss of Blue Moon say "the dam is going to release a lot of water"?

Why did their store organize a vacation for all employees to go fishing?

Don't they know the difference between releasing water and flood discharge?

Or were they misled? Was someone deliberately misrepresenting the flood discharge as a form of water release, with the intention of killing someone? Is it really possible for someone to be that pathological?

Xu Xiaoyan shook her head, feeling that her guess was too far-fetched, too much to be true.

That leaves only one possibility: when the news broke, it was indeed a plan to loosen monetary policy.

However, during these three days, the water situation upstream changed. Perhaps the inflow into the reservoir suddenly increased, and in any case, releasing water turned into flood discharge.

And this change went completely unnoticed by the person at the very end of the information chain.

Thinking of this, Xu Xiaoyan stopped in her tracks.

She stood on the farm road, surrounded by harvested fields, with a few bare trees in the distance, and the hazy outline of Qing City further away.

The wind blew from the direction of the river, carrying a damp, fishy smell, but it wasn't as strong as it had been in the morning.

She realized a very serious problem.

If today is a flood discharge, what will happen to those people downstream who are still fishing?

Not everyone is as sensitive to changes in water level as she is to notice something is wrong as soon as the water level rises.

If it were someone else, they might still be busy catching fish, and by the time they realize the water is already up to their ankles, it will be too late to run, let alone those who ran even further than her.

The spot where she was originally occupied was in a good location, but the current was very strong.

Baldy set up camp there last night. The dam is releasing water today; I wonder if he'll notice.

His encampment was closer to the downstream center, where the water would rush in even more violently and faster.

Xu Xiaoyan quickened her pace, wanting to return to Qing City as soon as possible to see what the situation was like there.

Has the authorities responded?

Has anyone notified people downstream to evacuate?

Or was everyone kept in the dark until the flood was right in front of them?

After walking for about twenty minutes, she turned onto the main road leading to the main urban area of ​​Qing City.

Houses began to appear on both sides of the road, starting with a few scattered buildings, then becoming more and more densely packed, transforming from farmhouses into residences, and then from residences into shops facing the street.

There were more pedestrians on the road, some riding bicycles, some carrying handbags, and some chatting in twos and threes by the roadside.

Xu Xiaoyan noticed something: the expressions on these people's faces were off, and their eyes were all looking towards the river.

Several people standing by the roadside craned their necks, their eyes constantly fixed on the downstream direction.

His mouth was slightly open, and his expression was somewhere between curiosity and worry; it was hard to tell whether he was watching the spectacle or genuinely concerned about something.

An older woman in a red dress stood at her doorstep, clutching a bunch of chives in her hand, the mud still clinging to the roots.

But she had completely forgotten about washing the vegetables; she stood there, staring at the riverbank.

Xu Xiaoyan followed her gaze but couldn't see anything. The road was lined with houses, completely blocking the river.

She walked a little further and heard a lot of noise, very loud and dense, as if countless people were talking, shouting and discussing at the same time.

The sound came from around the corner of the intersection ahead, mixed with the horn of a tow truck and the whistle of someone else.

As Xu Xiaoyan turned the corner, the scene before her made her pause.

We've reached the riverbank.

To be precise, we've arrived at the section of the riverbank outside Gyeongsang City that has been renovated.

The area has been fitted with cement railings and sidewalks, and is usually a place for nearby residents to take walks.

In the morning, a few old men occasionally fish here, while in the afternoon it becomes a place for young people to date.

But now, the place is packed with people, a dense, dark mass stretching along the riverbank from the bridgehead upstream all the way to the bend downstream.

Some people stood by the railing, while others climbed onto the adjacent wall.

A few daring young men stood on the rocks on the outer bank of the river, with the surging river water right beneath their feet.

Everyone's eyes were fixed in the same direction: downstream.

Xu Xiaoyan squeezed into the crowd and, with great effort, found a gap between two tall, burly middle-aged men to peek out and look at the river.

The river was many times wider than when she left.

When she left, the water level downstream was already rising, but the main channel still looked like a river.

The river in front of us now can no longer be described as a "river".

It was a boundless expanse of water, stretching from the nearby riverbank all the way to the foot of the distant mountains, swallowing up the normally exposed riverbanks, grasslands, and even low shrubs.

The water was an unpleasant, earthy yellow color, and countless debris floated on its surface.

"Make way! Make way!" A loud male voice rang out from the back of the crowd, its tone leaving no room for argument. "Everyone, move back! Don't crowd near the railing! It's dangerous!"

Xu Xiaoyan turned around and saw several people in dark blue uniforms squeezing through the crowd, their expressions all very serious.

The person walking in front was holding a megaphone, but for some reason it wasn't working, so he just shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Please stand back! Do not approach the riverbank! The dam is releasing water, the water level is still rising, and there is a risk of the riverbank collapsing at any time! Please cooperate!"

The shouts had little effect; the crowd retreated about a meter and then stopped moving.

Everyone's eyes were glued to the muddy yellow water, and no one wanted to actually leave.

The man with the megaphone sighed, raised it to his mouth, pressed the switch, and a piercing electronic beep sounded. Then he turned up the volume and shouted again:

"Please stand back! Do not approach the riverbank! The dam is releasing water, the water level is rising continuously, and there is a risk of the riverbank collapsing at any time! Please cooperate!"

The loudspeaker was indeed much better than my own voice.