Zhejiang has borne the brunt of constant rainstorms since the arrival of the plum rainy season this year. To better inform individuals of the weather disasters, the meteorological department in Zhejiang Province set a new mode of "grid + meteorology" for disaster prevention and mitigation, giving responsibilities to grass-roots grid members who are supposed to pass weather hazards messages to villagers ahead of time.

(Photo via Zhejiang News)

Sufficient time is ensured by accurate information. On June 30, Daluankou village in Jiangshan City, Zhejiang Province had a narrow escape from flash flooding and landslides. Located in the Xiakou reservoir area with steep terrain, the village is venerable to the rainstorm. At 6:10 in the morning, Tang Xiaoqin, the chief grid who was patrolling the village, received a rainstorm red warning issued by the "grid + meteorology" information management platform. She immediately released the warning information through WeChat groups and rushed to the village to check the condition of old houses. At 4:00 p.m., 94 households and 198 villagers in the dangerous area were successfully transferred with no casualties.

Since July, meteorological departments at all levels in the province have issued more than 390 early warnings of meteorological disasters, which made it possible for timely risk aversion.

In addition to the information push service, the provincial meteorological department has developed various early warning products according to the flood control requirements. The official of the Provincial Meteorological Bureau said that they customized the "integrated hydrometeorological service system" for local reservoirs to obtain relative information on the precipitation time and the total rainfall in advance.

(Compiled and translated by Xu Yuhong)