Residents remain calm, but my fears rise along with the waters

Since the start of this month, I had become increasingly anxious in Anhui province, where I am based.

As torrential rain continued to fall, flooding appeared to be inevitable. The only hope was that it would not be too serious, but my worst fears were soon confirmed, with rainfall volumes in many areas reaching record highs.

On July 7, when flooding hit Shexian county in the south of the province, local authorities were forced to delay two of the four exams for the gaokao, or national college entrance examination.

As ancient bridges collapsed, reducing many people to tears, my fears increased.

I calmed down only after the flooding receded. The delayed exams were taken two days later.

However, the authorities continued to issue new rainstorm and flooding alerts.

On July 14, I rushed to the Yangtze River in Zongyang county, which had reached a dangerous level, to find more than 1,000 soldiers had been working there for days.

On the way to Zongyang, I saw dozens of military trucks carrying soldiers south. A fellow reporter said, "Seeing them gives me a sense of security."

Later in the day, I read news reports, which stated that the soldiers had arrived on the front line of flood relief work in neighboring Jiangxi province.

Late that night, I interviewed the Party chief of Zongyang after a daily news conference on the relief work.

Waiting at the rear of the conference room, I saw maps on a screen indicating floodwater levels. The waters seemed to be everywhere. It was just like fighting a war.

At a relocation site, I saw an elderly man reading a book. His measured approach to the flooding appeared to calm his fellow residents.

I featured him in one of my reports, and the man became an online hit, with many people wanting to donate books to him.

By Sunday, the Huaihe River to the north had become dangerous, with flooding posing a threat to densely populated areas.

When the Wangjiaba sluice gates were opened on Monday morning, 13 years had passed since the most recent severe flooding in the area.

I remained fearful, unlike local residents who appeared calm even though their villages had been transformed into islands amid the floodwaters.

Staying in their homes on high ground, they said the only thing they could do was wait for the waters to recede.

I reached one woman in her 70s by boat as she chatted to neighbors in a village surrounded by water.

She said despite experiencing flooding many times, the situation had improved greatly in recent years.

When I returned from the village on Tuesday afternoon, new alerts said the water level of Chaohu Lake in Hefei, the country's fifth-largest freshwater lake, had reached a 100-year record high.

It was clearly no time to let down my guard.