心系故乡 (w English)

家乡发大水了。母亲昨天在家庭微信群里发了一则消息，我赶忙询问家中情况，知道父母平安无恙，只提醒了一句，不要出门，便放下了心。等生活在异地的弟弟看到，已经是我这里的后半夜了。一向忙得前脚顾不上后脚的弟弟被牵动了，一根筋似地不停地转发新闻，后半夜叮叮咚咚的微信声终于把我吵醒了。

 

望着照片中今年二月回去过年时全家还在一起走过的熟悉的城墙，国家级保护的文化老街、城门，如今一半浸泡在涛涛江水中，望着自己曾经的母校也是一片汪洋，心中不免一丝惊讶一丝担虑。

 

记忆中的江南老家，夏天闷热，热到一定程度往往来一场台风雨，台风登录后，大雨倾盆，卷走酷暑炎热，带来凉爽。刚刚听到台风消息时，有点不以为然，因为记忆中几乎年年有台风。却不料这次台风五十年不遇。洪水没过大桥桥面，大量涌入城内，原来有防洪作用的古城墙，三十六年来首次被关闭城门。然滔滔洪水，还是被倒灌进来，老城城门“失守”，最接近江面的老城区积水达1.5米左右，整座城市被淹，惨不忍睹，损失十分惨重。

 

人在大自然面前真是渺小，微不足微。但是，面对这样肆虐的自然灾害，人们一样在抗争。老百姓自己动手在筑防护措施。附近的县市也都在第一时间伸出援助之手，派出冲锋艇、救援队，解放军的一个旅也派出前来救援，真是天灾无情人有情。愿天佑家乡，愿风稍驻，雨小侯，愿家乡平安!

 

特此记之。

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dinging sounds were soft but clear in the midnight. I picked up the cell phone. It was 2:44 am, and the messages were from the family wechat group. Mom and the brother were exchanging the messages, the pictures and videos about the flood. I awoke to the disastrous scenes, where raging river overflowing the bridge, surging against the walls and plowing through the city ferociously. Strong and protective the fortress walls are, the city gate was slammed and the whole area was flooded destructively. The unexpected storm wreaked havoc across the city mercilessly.

Born and raised there, I am attached to the place, a city I have lived for more than twenty years. In my memory, typhoons made landfallst almost every summer, punching and gushing with winds and rains. When I was little, we were never shy of the news how typhoon caused damage to the rice field. But to an average resident like me, living in the sweltering summer without the air-conditioner in the early years, I actually looked forward to typhoon. The coolness after that gave us a relief from the intolerable summer heat.

Along with the global development comes deteriorating environment and more constant outbreak of natural disasters. When nature is out of balance, it is like an unchecked monster. A look at the catastrophic pictures reminds us to be submissive to it. To be kind to nature is to protect ourselves.