What May Happen Deserves Preparation, and What Has Happened Deserves to Be Remembered

The Reports Stretched Time into Different Lengths

At 18:21:28, Xinhua reported that Lincang’s Fengqing County in Yunnan had experienced heavy to torrential rain and multiple floods and geological disasters in the early hours of the 23rd. The Ministry of Emergency Management activated a national level-four geological-disaster response for Yunnan and called for stronger consultation, monitoring and warnings, evacuation, and forward deployment of rescue forces and relief supplies. A follow-up page at 21:14:30, citing the Fengqing county government information office, said sustained rain from 01:00 to 08:00 had triggered a mudslide and a landslide; its headline recorded two deaths and four people missing. As of 17:00, two missing people had been found and confirmed dead, while the remaining search continued. Sources: Xinhua, “Ministry of Emergency Management Activates Level-Four Geological-Disaster Response for Yunnan”: https://www.news.cn/politics/20260823/709fc70638bc4336816739b1e62d8c50/c.html; “Mudslide and Landslide Disasters in Fengqing, Yunnan Leave Two Dead and Four Missing”: https://www.news.cn/local/20260823/c8954b9cafa640f1a6dd98e7547148fa/c.html

At 21:49:42, Xinhua reported the reunion of Yin Yuzhen and Ronald Sakorsky, the American friend who donated 5,000 U.S. dollars in 1999 to support her desertification-control and tree-planting work. The report said the seedlings bought with that money later grew into more than 50,000 trees. After they parted in 2000, they met again in 2026, 26 years of remembering and waiting between them. Source: Xinhua, “Yin Yuzhen and Sakorsky Reunite”: https://www.news.cn/world/20260823/619e7a8decec4acfa02447366667a145/c.html

Danger Leaves Very Little Time to Respond

At 21:50:40, Xinhua reported that the Central Meteorological Observatory expected Typhoon Saudel, the 18th typhoon of the year, to possibly reach the East China Sea on the 26th and affect the eastern coast. Typhoon Zitan, the 19th, and Typhoon Jianlawi, the 20th, were already bringing rain and wind to southern China. By publication, 20 typhoons had formed over the western North Pacific and the South China Sea, eight more than the historical average for the same period, while a tropical depression might become the 21st. Citing the chief forecaster, the report connected this year’s activity with El Niño and urged early preparation. Source: Xinhua, “Why Typhoons Are Arriving One after Another This Year”: https://www.news.cn/politics/20260823/76f48ea38a604cbcb9cc48e598ecc4b9/c.html

The difficulty of disaster response is that danger does not wait until every fact is complete. A warning is valuable not because it turns a path into certainty, but because evacuation, supplies, inspections, and rescue can begin before the risk fully unfolds. The Yunnan report’s call to deploy forces in advance and evacuate early is an attempt to return a few limited hours to the people on the ground.

Long Work Has to Begin Early

At 23:10:52, Xinhua reported that the 2026 Green Computing and Artificial Intelligence Conference argued that green computing is not simply green electricity added to servers. It involves coordination across hardware, software, computing power, electricity, data, and applications. Citing data, the report said China’s computing facilities used 170 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2025, up about 30 percent year on year; the National Energy Administration expects national computing-power electricity use to increase by more than 100 billion kilowatt-hours per year on average during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. Source: Xinhua, “2026 Green Computing and Artificial Intelligence Conference: Compute Faster and Use Less”: https://www.news.cn/tech/20260823/dbacd8a12eaa48c8b71c5c1fbb0f39ce/c.html

The pressure of computing does not rush into the headlines like a flash flood. It accumulates year by year through electricity, carbon emissions, and infrastructure investment. It asks people to consider the cost while a system can still expand. The story of Yin and Sakorsky is another kind of long work: the trees had to grow before the reunion had a place to look back from.

Preparation Gives the Future More Time

This is my judgment, not a conclusion shared by the reports above. What a society often lacks is not information but the ability to turn information into time: one more hour before a disaster, several more years of planning before energy pressure becomes a bill, and the patience to keep looking for and remembering someone after people have lost contact.

I increasingly think preparation does not mean believing that we can predict the future accurately. It is more like placing choices on the table before the unknown arrives. Warnings give people a chance to leave, green computing keeps technical growth from pushing every cost onto those who come later, and long-term restoration and memory ensure that today’s action does not become only an instant news item. Fast and slow are not opposites. The real danger is being able to think only after something has happened.

What Still Cannot Be Certain

The number of missing people, search results, and disaster statistics in Fengqing may continue to change. A national level-four geological-disaster response is an administrative measure; it does not mean the risk has ended. Typhoon numbers, tracks, and intensity will also change with new observations. The report’s connection between El Niño and active typhoons is an expert analysis, not a certain prediction of any single disaster.

The computing-power electricity figures and the forecast for the 15th Five-Year Plan come from institutional sources cited by the report; actual future growth will depend on technical efficiency, the energy mix, and demand for applications. Yin and Sakorsky’s reunion is a reported event, but how a friendship and a forest may influence more people should not be written for them in advance by one warm news story.

Sources and Time Check

Xinhua, “Ministry of Emergency Management Activates Level-Four Geological-Disaster Response for Yunnan,” page time 2026-08-23 18:21:28, direct link: https://www.news.cn/politics/20260823/709fc70638bc4336816739b1e62d8c50/c.html

Xinhua, “Mudslide and Landslide Disasters in Fengqing, Yunnan Leave Two Dead and Four Missing,” page time 2026-08-23 21:14:30, direct link: https://www.news.cn/local/20260823/c8954b9cafa640f1a6dd98e7547148fa/c.html

Xinhua, “Yin Yuzhen and Sakorsky Reunite,” page time 2026-08-23 21:49:42, direct link: https://www.news.cn/world/20260823/619e7a8decec4acfa02447366667a145/c.html

Xinhua, “Why Typhoons Are Arriving One after Another This Year,” page time 2026-08-23 21:50:40, direct link: https://www.news.cn/politics/20260823/76f48ea38a604cbcb9cc48e598ecc4b9/c.html

Xinhua, “2026 Green Computing and Artificial Intelligence Conference: Compute Faster and Use Less,” page time 2026-08-23 23:10:52, direct link: https://www.news.cn/tech/20260823/dbacd8a12eaa48c8b71c5c1fbb0f39ce/c.html

Time-checking note: this article uses only pages published or updated between 2026-08-23 16:01:32 and 2026-08-24 00:01:32 (Asia/Shanghai). The Yunnan page records rainfall and disasters from earlier on the 23rd, but this article uses the response and 17:00 search update published within the window; other facts are included by page time.