A rainstorm swept through two villages in the New Territories and fourteen houses fell down. Seven others were so badly damaged (被损坏的) that their owners had to leave them. And fifteen others had broken windows. One person was killed, several were badly hurt and taken to hospital, and a number of other people were hurt slightly. Over two hundred people were homeless after the rainstorm.

A farmer, Mr. Tan said that the rainstorm began early in the morning and lasted for over an hour.

“I was eating with my wife and children when we heard a loud noise,” he said. “A few minutes later our house fell down. We tried our best to climb out but then I realized that one of my children was missing. I went back inside and found him, safe but scared.”

Mrs. Woo Mei Fong said that her husband had just left for work when she felt that her house was shaking. She ran outside at once with her children. “There was no time to take anything,” she said “A few minutes later, the house fell down.”

Soldiers helped to take people out of the flooded (水淹的) area and the government (政府) brought them food, clothes and shelters.

On September 5, 2022, a strong earthquake hit Luding, Sichuan. Many people ran as fast as they could to a safe place, but some others made a different choice. They risked their lives to save more people. Gan Yu was one of them. When the earthquake came, Gan Yu and Luo Yong, workers the Wandong Hydropower Station (湾东水电站), didn’t run away. Instead, they went to the station to open two flood-gates (泄水闸门) so that villages nearby wouldn’t be flooded (淹没).

On September 6, Gan and Luo left the hydropower station to look for help. On September 7, Gan was physically weak and he couldn’t walk properly. Thinking that he would cause trouble for Luo, Gan asked Luo to leave first to find help. Luo agreed. On the morning of September 8, Luo was saved.

Gan remained missing until September 21. A local villager, Ni Taigao, found him. The earthquake damaged (损坏) Ni’s house on the mountain, so he had to live in a house down the mountain. One day, Ni returned to the mountain to look for his sheep and saw rescue (救援) workers who were looking for Gan. As he knew the mountain well, he decided to help look for Gan.

At 7 a.m. on September 21, Ni took some water and food and set out. After walking for more than two hours, Ni heard somebody shouting for help and later found Gan lying in the forest. He was very weak. At 11:30 a.m., rescue workers arrived and Gan was sent to the hospital at once.

Looking back on this experience, Gan said, “We stayed at the hydropower station because we wanted to save the villagers. And later, I was saved thanks to the villagers.”

How wonderful!

自然界的三大灾难

In March 2015, a big wildfire went through Cape Town, South Africa. “It was moving 65 km in a single day and destroying (毁坏) everything on its way. We couldn't breathe because of the smoke, and we couldn't run away,” said one Cape Town resident (居民). Wildfires can start in forests or on open land, and it spreads very quickly. Sometimes they start because the weather is hot and dry, but mostly humans cause wildfires. We can prevent them by carefully controlling campfires and other outdoor fires.

Other natural disasters (灾难) are impossible to prevent. A hurricane—also called a typhoon—is a rotating tropical storm (旋转的热带风暴) that starts over the sea. When typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines and Vietnam in 2013, the winds reached over 100 kph and caused disasters. Six thousand people were killed, and more than two million people had to leave their homes. Today we can exactly predict these storms, and if we pay attention to severe weather warnings, we can prepare for their arrivals.

Unlike a storm, an earthquake is usually completely unexpected. A huge earthquake hit Pakistan in October 2015. “The ground was shaking,” said one Islamabad resident who was at work at that time. “But worse than that was the sound of the earthquake. It was a terrible noise.” Earthquakes usually don't last more than a minute, but their effects can be terrible. Buildings fall down and this can sometimes cause fires and floods. It can be very difficult to find survivors (幸存者) in the destroyed areas.

These are just three examples of how powerful nature can be. But humans can use predictions, take practical steps to make our environment safer, and work together when things go wrong.