Simulation Game: Crisis Management-Chapter 360 - 177: The Truth Behind the Flash Flood

Chapter 360: Chapter 177: The Truth Behind the Flash Flood

"Captain Pradan, we should gather the scattered boat formations as much as possible now and find a way to rescue those refugees floating on the water at the onset of the flood!"

Gu Ji maneuvered his vessel next to Captain Pradan’s rubber boat. "And relying solely on us is far from enough; we also need military helicopter assistance!"

Pradan, understanding the principle of the "golden rescue time," pulled out a satellite phone from his toolkit.

After the flood hit, most of the town’s infrastructure was severely damaged, and cellphones had no signal. He handed another satellite phone to Gu Ji. "I’ve already reported the situation to the disaster response command center experts. They’ll be responsible for contacting the air force base for support. Vidi, we’ll split up for the rescue. I’ll cover the Hugli River direction, and you take the west side. We’ll meet downstream in the southern district!"

"Alright!"

Working with someone who understands makes everything smoother.

In less than half an hour, Gu Ji had gathered seventy to eighty rubber rescue boats near the east, and along the way, they rescued over a hundred refugees. By the time they reached the designated spot, Pradan and he had found nearly eighty percent of the formation’s personnel.

As the most elite disaster relief unit in India, their survival rate was naturally higher than that of the average civilian.

The missing personnel were either separated from their boats and escaped elsewhere, or temporarily trapped somewhere.

The flood had only broken out for about an hour.

As it entered the recession period, the water flow wasn’t as turbulent as before. The deep water level remained around five meters. Although surface-wise, Calcutta’s water rescue seemed more challenging than Assam’s, the fact that it occurred during the daytime, with military helicopter support, and most civilians wearing reflective life jackets and lifebuoys, actually made the operation easier and smoother.

The entire morning, Gu Ji and Pradan were busy with city-wide search and rescue operations.

Later, even the Indian Army and Navy joined in, thanks to Fatima. If she hadn’t emulated the viral posting, uploading videos of the massive Calcutta flood online, causing a sensation, the Cabinet Prime Minister wouldn’t have suddenly called in the Navy for assistance, going as far as organizing nationwide disaster relief donations online.

This was also quite normal. In a national-level disaster involving multiple states, government fiscal consumption was usually very alarming.

Never underestimate a life jacket, a bag of rice, or a box of bottled water.

The saying "Many a little makes a mickle" holds true. In the past 20 years, India suffered annual economic losses of $10 billion due to disasters, with the Central Cabinet consecutively allocating over 290 billion rupees to the SDRF State Disaster Relief Fund during 2021-2022, equivalent to 24 billion Xia currency. Part of it went to infrastructure, part for purchasing ambulances and other rescue equipment, with nearly 50% used for disaster relief and compensating citizens.

However, considering the previous "secret backstabbing" by the national taxation department in compensations, the actual amount of the disaster relief fund benefiting the populace might still be an unknown quantity.

Da, da, da...

Under the gloomy sky, dozens of military helicopters and transport planes buzzed about, tasked with rescue and material allocation. Not only were Calcutta’s citizens amazed, even the disaster response troops’ rescuers had never seen such bustling activity "overhead."

As time passed, the death toll in the bottom left corner began to rise ever more slowly.

By dusk, the heavy rain finally began to subside, undoubtedly easing the search and rescue difficulties considerably.

After bringing the last group of refugees to Central City’s Matan Park, Gu Ji found a tent area temporarily set up by the government and collapsed inside.

Since the bomb plan for the dam was devised yesterday morning until now, he had worked for 36 hours straight without closing his eyes.

If it weren’t for the wave after wave of crises stimulating his nerves, keeping Gu Ji on high alert at all times...

Perhaps he wouldn’t have lasted.

...

[Ultimate Objective: Prevent the tropical storm and its secondary disasters from attacking India, and successfully keep the death toll under 157!]

[Side Objective: Successfully obtain cooperation from the mountain division’s special border forces!]

[Unlock Hidden Objective: Uncover the truth behind the Assam flood mystery!]

Gu Ji opened his eyes, disbelieving that it was the in-game system’s notification sound that woke him.

Stretching lazily, the exhaustion seemed to vanish as he pondered the meaning of the hidden mission, rubbing his drowsy eyes.

The truth behind the Assam flood mystery...

Could it really not be the glacier rupture causing the sudden rise in water levels, leading to the dam’s continuous breaches?

From past hidden mission completion experiences, one could not simply rely on guesses. A knowledgeable person or substantial evidence was necessary, like Jillian from the Laird Airport quest, or the special amine derivatives from the Underground Building quest.

Just as Gu Ji was contemplating where to start, a rush of footsteps echoed outside the tent.

"Vidi, are you awake?"

"Awake. That nap lasted so long. How’s the search and rescue going?"

It was Fatima speaking. Gu Ji unzipped the tent, only to be greeted by a strong light that caused him to squint, "Is it sunny?"

"Yes, the S103 tropical storm has completely dissipated. Without ongoing precipitation, the flooding in southern Bengal is receding slowly, allowing the rescue operations to proceed smoothly. But..."

Here, Fatima deliberately paused, a sly smile on her face, "I have even better news!"

"More good news?"

"Because the Farakka Dam wasn’t detonated in time, it led to a massive flood in the southern state. The Cabinet Government is furious, and the Prime Minister has ordered a thorough investigation of the finance and taxation department and Midnapore Special Zone Government. I hear relevant personnel were already taken by the Central Investigation Bureau this morning!"

Unexpectedly, Gu Ji didn’t show much excitement upon hearing this.

Because the devastating impact of the Calcutta flood was so great, the Indian Cabinet would inevitably find scapegoats to calm the public anger, so these arrests were inevitable; on the other hand, as he wasn’t Indian, he naturally felt detached from India’s fight against corruption.

"Vidi, now that the situation in Calcutta is under control, should we return to New Delhi to report back to the Director and Prime Minister?"

"Leave the reporting to you. I still have other matters to handle back in Assam."

Gu Ji replied, casually shouldering his backpack in search of the special border forces, "Where did Marlo and the others go?"

"I just ran into Colonel Swaraj. He said the troops’ demolition relief mission is complete, and they’re preparing to escort the remaining equipment and explosives back to the fourth army base in Assam..."

"Help me inform the Minister on my behalf, just say I’m returning to Assam to investigate the flood’s cause!"

Talk about sleep coming when you need a pillow.

Gu Ji, previously worried about having no opportunity to return to northern Assam, didn’t wait for Fatima to finish before quickly leaving, running towards the camp where the military was stationed.

His plan was simple: catch a ride with the special border forces’ plane back to Assam and inquire about the Himalayas since the Indian Army’s Fourth Corps’ 57th Mountain Division was responsible for guarding the northern mountain mid-point 40 km from Dispur, training recruits and maintaining an offensive-defensive stance. It’s one of India’s strongest frontline divisions and surely aware of any changes in the mountains.

"Colonel, Marlo, wait for me!"

Thankfully, the two Mi-17/171 transport helicopters were just starting their blades when Gu Ji intercepted Marlo before he boarded.

After explaining his reason and justification, Marlo gave Swaraj a look.

What surprised Gu Ji was that their exchanged glances carried a special meaning, as if the Himalayas north of Assam hid some secret.

Wait...

Could the flood be linked to the special border forces?