Gu Ji hurriedly opened the door and got out of the car.
The entire town resembled an apocalyptic scene. Thousands of black birds sward over the city like a flood, emitting sharp noises. They looked like a rapidly shifting "black cloud." So bystanders started taking photos with their phones, while others clasped their hands in prayer.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, a scream rang out.
A black bird, unable to dodge in ti, crashed into an old black utility pole and fell to the ground, blood splattering like beads. With a crash, another black bird collided with the top-floor window of a small building, shattering the glass, which then broke into even smaller pieces upon hitting the ground. A dozen birds flew through the trees, fell, then spread their wings to rise again, weaving through the crowd and scaring passing vehicles and pedestrians into panic and screams.
Gu Ji looked down and saw the dead birds. They included blackbirds, gray starlings, and Rosy starlings.
A massive migration of birds.
It could be due to territorial crises, human disruption, seasonal migration, or weather changes.
But the first two seem unlikely. Previously, when investigating his father's plane crash in Assam, he had witnessed the large nature reserves and jungles in the north, where forests cover almost 21% of the state's total area. Seasonal migration does fit, as early October is autumn, a transitional season. But the vast number of birds crashing into buildings and the accompanying screams indicate one thing:
The birds are in a state of panic, eager to evade sothing!
Everyone knows that animals are more sensitive than humans to unusual environntal changes. For example, elephants can predict storms, and rats can sense and avoid mine collapses. Other phenona, like snakes erging in winter and frogs gathering on land, also signal impending disasters.
Now, with a tiger appearing in town and the panicked migrating birds;
It naturally indicates that an extre disaster may occur in Assam!
Gu Ji returned to the car and took out his phone to look up the Assam teorological Departnt's phone number. Fortunately, these governnt departnts have official websites. He imdiately dialed the hotline.
"Hello, sir. This is the Assam teorological Departnt Minister's hotline. Thank you for calling. I'm the ministerial hotline operator, Lao. I'm pleased to assist you. Before we start, could you please tell your na?"
"Vidhi Dali!"
"Sir, could you please spell that? Dali or Da..."
The call was soon answered. A young male voice ca through, but what confused Gu Ji was that the operator seed excessively enthusiastic and had an overly exaggerated and deliberate tone. He spoke very slowly and repeatedly confird each question, exasperating anyone in a hurry.
Without waiting for him to finish, Gu Ji interrupted:
"I'm an investigator from the Agricultural Departnt. This afternoon, while conducting research outside, I discovered a Bengal tiger appearing in Dis布尔 County. I have..."
"Mr. Vidhi, if there's a wild animal attack, you need to contact the Forestry Departnt or local police station for..."
"This is urgent, please let finish. It's not just the tiger; there are also large flocks of panicked birds over the town. October is the post-tropical monsoon season, South Asia's monsoon intensity is strong and prolonged, very likely leading to heavy rainfall, triggering storms and flash floods."
"Sir, we have noted the issues you've ntioned. However, our teorological monitoring departnt currently hasn't detected any strong rainfall signals. There's no need to worry. If we notice any abnormal teorological activity, we will imdiately issue notifications to the public for warning and protection."
"I need you to connect to your technical monitoring departnt!"
"Mr. Vidhi, I'm afraid that's not feasible. Please trust our monitoring technicians; they possess professional environntal teorology knowledge..."
Seeing that he couldn't persuade the teorological Departnt, Gu Ji decisively hung up and pulled up Google satellite maps on his phone.
He was currently in the capital of Northeast India, Assam: Dis布尔 County.
From a geographical perspective, Assam is surrounded on three sides by highlands and plateaus. There are two major rivers within the region: the Brahmaputra River, and the Balak River. The forr anders sinuously, resembling snake bends. Such river formations have poor water flow and are prone to floods. Incidentally, many Indian towns, including Dis布尔, are developed along the river, relying heavily on water without flood buffer zones. In the middle and lower reaches of the rivers, the flat terrain leads to sedint accumulation, raising the riverbed into a raised river, prone to backflow.
Once continuous heavy rainfall occurs, a flood disaster in Assam is almost certain!
"Since I can't issue an advance warning, I'll have to start with self-rescue."
Gu Ji initially thought that finally, having been assigned a relatively high-ranking governnt role in this scenario, he could persuade governnt departnts to take preventative asures. But he realized it was futile.
Indeed, without tangible evidence;
Who would readily believe one person's words and mobilize all 33 million people in a collective disaster-prevention action?
Not to ntion this might be a national disaster, potentially threatening hundreds of millions of people.
Even invoking "Code: 7472" would be useless.
So he started the vehicle, turned on the in-car radio, and asked a passerby for directions to the city's largest store, intending to stock up on supplies.
According to the knowledge from the "Natural Disaster Ergency Self-Rescue Guide" in disaster managent, the most important things to prepare before a flood are food, lighters, clothing, drinking water, daily necessities, and necessary dical supplies. If there are valuable household items that are not easily carried, they can be waterproofed and either buried underground or placed in high locations.
User Comments
0 comments from readers