Floating in the freezer of a 57 year old aunt in Xingyang, Henan Province

Since July 20, rare rainstorms have fallen in many places in Henan Province. Floods have raged and many people have been trapped.

In Sishui Town, Xingyang City, an aunt guarding the supermarket alone hid in the refrigerator when the flood invaded and floated in fear and cold for 17 hours.

Her name is Zhang Guihua. She is 57 years old.

Flooded villages and towns in Henan, according to Xinhua

At 6 a.m. on July 20, Zhang Guihua wanted to go to morning exercise and walked around the town for a few times, but it rained continuously outside and couldn't go out. At 7 o'clock, she opened the door of her supermarket and began loading and clearing goods.

She lives alone in the supermarket and works alone every day. In the past, the children would fight, but the two sons grew up and went to Shangjie District of Zhengzhou to start a family. A few years ago, she separated from her husband and began to live alone. Her sons were worried and advised her to live together, but they were refused.

Her supermarket is opened at Kangtai roadside, Sishui Town, Xingyang City, Henan Province, next to the local central health center. Si water flows from the town, upstream through Mihe Town, Gongyi City, and downstream into the Yellow River.

According to Xingyang TV station, the whole Sishui town covers a total area of 58.2 square kilometers and governs 14 administrative villages. Longhai Railway and Lianhuo Expressway run through the town, and national highway 310 passes by.

Not many guests came to the supermarket that day. In those days, it rained all the time in Sishui town. On the 20th, it rained even more. She sold several umbrellas all morning.

The flood flooded the steps in front of the supermarket

According to the data released by Zhengzhou meteorological, the precipitation in Sishui town reached 200.4 mm from 6 a.m. on July 19 to 6 a.m. on July 20, while the precipitation in hulaoguan, 2.5 km west of Sishui Town, reached 72.3 mm from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on July 20.

At 12 noon, Zhang Guihua cooked quick-frozen dumplings filled with leek and eggs, and sent a video to his daughter-in-law at the door of the store: the trunk was soaked in the rain, half the stairs outside the store were flooded, and the potted plants were washed away by the rainstorm.

Shortly after lunch, the supermarket went out of power. Zhang Guihua also realized something was wrong, but she said she did not receive any flood related early warning information at that time.

According to the news from Xingyang TV station, the Party committee of Sishui town actively studied and judged the flood situation on the morning of July 19, quickly sounded the global flood control alarm, immediately rushed to Sishui River, Yellow River and other places to observe the water level situation, went to villages to observe the setting of temporary resettlement sites and dangerous buildings and kilns, repeatedly confirmed whether the people were safe and explained the knowledge of emergency self rescue.

She dialed her daughter-in-law, but no one answered. She sent her several photos of rainstorm and ponding on wechat.

At 12 o'clock, it was lunchtime. My daughter-in-law was feeding her child and missed the call. More than ten minutes later, the daughter-in-law dialed back, and no one answered the phone.

At about 1 o'clock, the rain was heavy and urgent. The water came up, climbed a short ladder, climbed the flower pot of Ping An tree, and rushed to Zhang Guihua's supermarket.

Zhang Guihua hurriedly pulled up the two glass doors. The door couldn't stop, and the water kept leaking in through the fine crack. Zhang Guihua took a quilt, folded it, and spread it out than the crack in the door.

Before the quilt was paved, a wave came, and the glass door on the right was broken. The debris and flood poured in fiercely. Zhang Guihua stumbled and almost sat in the water. The mobile phone can't be found. If you don't pay attention, your slippers fall off. His feet were exposed, his legs and toes were cut by glass, the wound was a finger long, and his flesh and blood turned outward.

The water didn't reach knee height, and waves followed one another. People couldn't stand steadily, and the shelves were washed upside down, blocking the way to the back door - only the back door can go upstairs.

The water level is from knee to waist and chest to chest. The whole process is less than ten minutes. Zhang Guihua moves carefully in the water. The big cans of wine that used to sell well in supermarkets are buried at the bottom of the water, and the refrigerator for yogurt and drinks is also sinking. She didn't panic. She was observing what could keep her safe for the time being.

Photo of the freezer used by Zhang Guihua to survive

The freezer used to hold ice cream floated up, and she tried to move there. One meter six or so, holding the edge of the freezer with both hands, he climbed onto the glass cover of the freezer as soon as he exerted himself.

The water rises fast. She floated up with the freezer, and her head hit the ceiling made of gypsum board. She first removed the glass door of the freezer, pushed open the sundries blocking the freezer, and then hit the gypsum board ceiling with both hands.

A piece of strong will burst out of her to survive. The whole ceiling fell off, exposing the reinforcement behind, and large bruises appeared on the arm. But I wanted to live too much. It was useless to block the thick steel bar of my fingers. She tore it off.

The water level in the supermarket continued to rise. The window is about one meter away from the roof. When the water overflows the window, the room is dark. 96 Ping supermarket is isolated into an island by water. There is no light or electricity. The sound of rain outside the house can not be heard. Only the sound of water flow turns in my ears.

At about 2 p.m., the second daughter-in-law Yang Ludong found on the short video platform that the water potential in Sishui town was already very large, and the accumulated water poured into the streets. She was worried about the safety of her mother-in-law and kept calling her, but no one answered.

The video she provided showed that the first floor of the house in Sishui town had been flooded during the day of July 21. From across the street, Zhang Guihua's supermarket has only one sign with white characters and red background, which is still exposed on the water.

After 3 o'clock, Zhang Yan saw in his circle of friends that the shop selling roast duck next to his supermarket was almost flooded. He hurriedly called his neighbor to inquire about his mother. Three o'clock, four o'clock, five o'clock... Asked one by one. It was dark. The neighbors said they didn't see Zhang Guihua.

According to public information, on July 20, there were many flood hazards in Sishui Town, Xingyang City, Henan Province. Sishui town is located in shallow mountains and hills with low terrain. Affected by continuous heavy rainfall for several hours, low-lying terrain and mountain torrents in the upper reaches of Sishui River, the whole town was affected and the town area was flooded to more than one floor. By 17:00 on July 20, Henan Provincial Department of water resources had upgraded flood and drought disaster prevention to level II emergency response.

In the supermarket, Zhang Guihua didn't know that her relatives were anxiously looking for her. The water level was still rising, carrying the freezer to the roof.

The clothes are wet. There is frost two or three centimeters thick on the inner wall of the freezer. If you step inside with bare feet, you can't feel cold or wound pain. Your body is wooden. 1.5 yuan of small white ice cream, 3 yuan of qiaolezi and 5 yuan of boxed ice cream are all picked up and thrown out. To reduce the burden of the refrigerator, nothing is more important than surviving at the moment of life and death.

She emptied the two white iron frames in the freezer and padded them under her body. Her legs were cramped. She lay silently in the freezer. She knew that it was useless to shout for help now. She had to wait patiently and conserve her strength.

The flood flooded the first floor of the supermarket

In the dark, there is more and more water in the supermarket, and the outer edge of the freezer has reached the ceiling. She closed her eyes and could not feel the passage of time. She had hope in her heart that she would always be saved. Now she was just fighting, fighting the flood.

However, as the oxygen became thinner, the original will to survive began to waver. She thinks wildly, will she not survive, in case she can't wait for rescue? Today is July 20, and tomorrow is June 12 of the lunar calendar. Her birthday. In another day, she will be 57 years old. What a pity.

She can't help worrying about her children and grandchildren. Her second daughter-in-law gave birth to a little daughter not long ago. She is 4 months old and has a 5-year-old daughter. Her daughter-in-law takes two children at home and her son works outside. Their monthly salary is only 3000 yuan. They are in a difficult period. When she takes her children to see her at the weekend, she can also give her some food and drink, which can provide some financial support.

She thought that if she really left, no one would help them.

In the dark, she couldn't feel the time and didn't know when the water stopped rising.

At first, when she was lying in the freezer, she could reach for the cement roof. The freezer stayed in this position for a long time. From time to time, she reached out to touch the water level and slowly felt that her fingers were far from the ceiling.

According to her estimation, the distance between the roof and her was four fingers long at first, then one palm, then two palms, and then he stretched out his hand hard and couldn't touch the roof. The water level dropped a little, the hanging heart also fell, and there was hope in my heart.

Slowly, the window also leaked out. It was still dark around 5 a.m. But from the window, there was still a glimmer of light, and then came the sound of water mixed with the "Tengteng" of the submachine engine. A male voice shouted again and again outside: is there anyone? Anyone?

The rescue workers came and the chance of being rescued was close at hand. She moved to the window, picked up a half meter long white board from the water and smashed it at the window. Bang! The glass was not broken, but people outside heard a noise.

A voice said in her direction: several people can sit on a submachine boat! She understood. This is to comfort her. Don't worry. She will certainly come to save you.

A high hanging heart finally fell to the ground. The search and rescue personnel on the submachine boat made a circle and drove to the supermarket.

Photo of supermarket respondents after flood

At the same time, she also tried her best to create rescue conditions, picked up a supermarket shelf from the water, reluctantly held the shelf and sat on the freezer. Two rescue workers connected her to the submachine boat, on which sat the husband and wife selling sesame oil next door.

Zhang Guihua said she was "numb". Someone asked her if she was hungry. She said she ate dumplings at noon and didn't know it was the next day; Someone helped her fight flies and mosquitoes, saying that insects bite you, but she didn't notice it. For the rest of my life, there were too many things to feel. The long wounds on my feet were ferocious and bleeding, "I didn't feel pain".

According to Xingyang, affected by continuous hours of heavy rainfall, low-lying terrain and mountain torrents in the upper reaches of Sishui River, Sishui town was affected, the town area was flooded to more than one floor, and only some roofs could be seen in laojuntang, East Henan and other villages. More than 10000 people were affected in 14 villages of Sishui Town, all farmland was flooded, about 140 irrigation wells and draft wells were damaged, roads in 14 administrative villages were damaged to varying degrees, and water, electricity, gas and other infrastructure were paralyzed.

By July 27, it had been a week since the flood receded. Zhang Guihua had been recuperating at home. Her legs couldn't get off the ground. She couldn't go to the supermarket. Her two sons won't let her go either. They have been dredging the supermarket recently. The mud on the road at the gate alone is almost ankle high and mixed with sundries and garbage. The supermarket plaque fell to the ground, and the transparent plastic curtain was covered with mud.

The rescued Zhang Guihua was treated in the hospital. The picture is provided by the interviewee

The inside of the supermarket is a mess. The mud is deep, the shelves are crooked, instant noodles, washing liquid and yogurt are scattered on the ground, the ice cream she threw out has melted, all kinds of electrical appliances have broken down, and some food is soaked, rotten and smelly. In the past, the best-selling specialty wine was soaked in the flood all night and can no longer be sold. Only the plaque of "booming business" on the wall remains unchanged.

She has run a supermarket for 25 years. From the day when she opened her first grocery store in 1995, Zhang Guihua lived in the store, with the store in front and the living room behind. At that time, the store was only more than 30 square meters. In 2011, the business area expanded to 96 square meters, once becoming the largest supermarket in Sishui town.

Zhang Guihua in life

Half a lifetime of hard work, all in vain. According to her estimation, the loss of the whole supermarket was 4.5 million. She was just a woman with a junior high school diploma and had no awareness of buying insurance for the supermarket. She said that just looking at the photos taken by her sons, she felt very, very sad.

The social security and family property insurance purchased by the government can make up for some losses for the affected people. According to the news released by Xingyang, Xingyang Municipal People's government purchased social security and family property insurance for the city's residents in August 2020 (the insurance date is from August 2020 to August 2021). Family property losses caused by storms, rainstorms, landslides and other natural disasters can be compensated.

However, the scope of its guaranteed property is limited to: household appliances, furniture, bedding and clothing, hand-made farm tools and pigs, cattle and sheep raised at home.

Photo of Zhang Guihua's son's circle of friends

For example, gold and silver jewelry, cash, vehicles, houses and ancillary facilities and indoor decoration, agricultural machinery, grain, crops, production and business property, outdoor property, property stored in the basement, electric bicycles, etc., are not covered.

So far, the cleaning and killing of the supermarket have not been completed, and the two sons are still busy for this, as if they are not desperate.

On July 25, when his eldest son Zhang Yan went to the supermarket, he sent the disaster situation of the supermarket to the circle of friends. He wrote: just like when he was swept away by the flood, he had to give up his luggage and clothes in order to survive. Although he lost a lot of things, at least he didn't completely lose his life - my mother will get better.