Rebirth 08: A Happy Life Begins in Elementary School

The snow disaster at the beginning of 08 is a good starting point.

Disaster prevention not only tests the government's organizational capacity, but also the disaster resilience of a city's infrastructure.

During the period of China's great development, the focus of a city's construction often lies in "how to expand rapidly".

At that time, the mainstream planning trend was to pursue development.

Cities of all sizes are striving to establish their own city brand and create landmarks.

The general public is also tired of seeing old, dilapidated, and cramped buildings. They can't wait for their small county town to become a place with wide roads, large squares, and city parks everywhere. They also want a CBD to be built and a landmark erected, so that modernization can be achieved in the most direct way.

Disaster prevention infrastructure is generally hidden and invisible, requires large investments, and is difficult to demonstrate as a political achievement. Investing money in preventing low-probability extreme disasters makes decision-makers hesitant, think tanks dislike it, and the people unhappy.

This cannot be called wrong.

The times dictate many things. At that time, the focus was on development. By the time Li Zhao entered the profession, disaster prevention was no longer something that needed to be emphasized.

Only when the economy develops can we talk about other things.

But in 08, this was a marginal and niche topic.

Li Zhao's prediction beforehand was likely to result in something that "makes sense but is unusable."

Have you not seen how, during the same period, a mayor in a neighboring province defied public opinion to build a flood control dike, and was severely criticized?

But in the next decade or so, it was this dam that held back a once-in-fifty-year flood, saving the city from disaster, and the people still remember it fondly.

That's a story for another time.

Li Zhao begins his writing by starting with the 08 snow disaster, emphasizing the systemic planning flaws in cities, namely "emphasizing construction over disaster prevention, focusing on individual points, and lacking a comprehensive system." He then uses professional content to strengthen the credibility of his views.

"Urban disaster prevention planning has long been an auxiliary and supporting plan, not subject to legally binding control, and can be arbitrarily compromised for development, land, and vanity projects."

"There is a widespread phenomenon across the country where flood control, fire prevention, earthquake prevention, geological disaster prevention, and extreme weather are handled separately, without a unified plan for comprehensive disaster prevention."

"Urban construction only meets the standards of normal operation, and lacks contingency plans for urban operation under extreme disaster conditions."

He then used this as a springboard to write about the impact of various major disasters.

After much deliberation, he still wrote down the words "especially earthquakes".

He then put forward several arguments, including first reversing the urban planning values ​​that prioritize development over safety, shifting towards a comprehensive and three-dimensional urban disaster prevention system, strictly controlling disorderly construction in high-risk areas, conducting regular disaster risk assessments, reserving disaster prevention space, establishing a routine evacuation drill and grid-based disaster relief system, and upgrading urban infrastructure according to extreme disaster scenarios...

Taking New Taipei City as an example, we will discuss how to prepare for typhoons, floods, snow disasters, and other disasters.

Regarding earthquakes, here is another example.

"In 2007, I conducted field surveys in mountainous towns in Sichuan..."

This is the dish of vinegar that Li Zhao made dumplings for.

As Li Zhao wrote this, his breathing became somewhat heavy.

In May 2008, a devastating earthquake struck, causing national grief.

It's impossible to stop it; Li Zhao isn't a superman.

Li Zhao cannot reveal that he is a reborn person; all the so-called prophecies will only become rumors that disturb the people's minds.

Moreover, even if he reveals that he has been reborn and can foresee the future, how many people would actually believe him?

No matter how capable he is, can he empty out a city or even several cities?

While a major earthquake is certainly tragic, disasters happen all over the country. Can Li Zhao foresee everything and avoid them all in this way?

He had already given up on getting involved. Everyone has their own destiny. His rebirth was for his own sake, and he wouldn't try to change the timeline for things beyond his control.

However, now that the article has gained some influence, he can do something about it.

The earthquake happened twenty years ago in Li Zhao's previous life, and he didn't remember many details, only the most important ones.

After all, the earthquake was still quite far from him. At that time, most of the people in Linjiang Province were just following the earthquake news with their hearts aching and mourning, donating some supplies and money, and there was nothing more they could do.

However, when it comes to disaster prevention, the fundamental principles remain the same despite all the changes.

Risk point identification, building seismic resistance level, emergency refuge space, routine evacuation drills, disaster relief organization system – both hardware and software are being addressed.

Li Zhao carefully considered the words, imagining himself conducting a preliminary investigation in Shu, constantly pointing out the disaster prevention problems of cities located in earthquake zones from the perspective of testing urban disaster prevention capabilities.

Predicting a major earthquake is impossible, but since the research sites happen to be some of the cities most severely affected by earthquakes, he can write about it.

Those cities are not financially well-off, and it is basically impossible to expect them to invest heavily in upgrading disaster prevention infrastructure just because of one of his articles.

If there's no way to upgrade the hardware, then start with the software.

Raise vigilance, conduct numerous earthquake evacuation drills in a short period of time, and at the same time, investigate potential hazards as much as possible and establish a sufficiently well-organized disaster relief mechanism...

It will definitely work.

It will definitely save more lives.

If this article can truly gain attention...

If this article really sparks public opinion, it will at least make the local area feel tense. Once the leaders take it seriously, there will be no shortage of immediate actions and reporting to higher authorities.

These things are effective in the short term, but it's hard to maintain a constant level of vigilance over time.

A short time is enough.

A month is still a period of time when leaders are inspecting and grassroots staff are keeping records. By now, several rounds of drills should have been conducted so that when a real earthquake strikes, people won't panic and run around aimlessly.

"After reviewing relevant information, I found that the frequency of microseismic activity in this area has been increasing in recent years, and the local authorities should not be complacent..."

"Hardware infrastructure cannot be built overnight, but earthquake-resistant mechanisms and disaster relief systems can permeate every aspect of a city..."

"If cities in this region can develop an effective earthquake-resistant operational mechanism, it can serve as a good model for other cities across the country in building disaster resilience..."

In the end, to avoid the post-earthquake article being glorified, Li Zhao changed the subject and returned to New Taipei City, Linjiang Province.

After a brief summary, he slowly put down his pen.

The light from the incandescent bulb had a slightly dim outline.

This is from overusing your eyes.

Li Zhao felt his head getting hot, his heart racing, and his breathing becoming uneven.

This article is still quite weighty.

"That's all I can do," Li Zhao murmured to himself.

This article has to rely on the influence of Sikoudao. Fortunately, I was prepared in advance and wrote the address as the neighborhood committee's mailbox, so it would be difficult to find him even if I tried to trace it.

This time, however, he didn't want to write down the address.

This article is free of charge.

It's just something I, as a Chinese person, want to do.

As for whether it will have a huge impact, or even attract the attention of local leaders, or whether it will truly make them take it seriously and start planning ahead, or even how many people can be saved, Li Zhao has no control over that.

Human resources are limited, but we strive to do our best and have a clear conscience.

[Act righteously, happiness +3, total 18]