防汛

• Pinyin: fáng xùn
• Hanzi breakdown: 防 = 阝+ 方 (earthen embankment — originally referring to a levee); 汛 = 氵+ 巳 (water at its cyclical peak — the flood season)

Meaning

Flood prevention; flood control. Measures and coordinated efforts undertaken by governments and communities to prevent or mitigate the damage caused by seasonal flooding.

A key administrative and engineering term in China, where seasonal floods pose a major challenge to large river basins such as the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers. Common collocations: 防汛工作、防汛物资、防汛预案、防汛抗旱. Typically involves government agencies, military units, and local residents.

Examples

1. 汛期临近，地方政府提前启动了防汛应急预案，对沿河低洼地带的居民进行了疏散安置，并调配了大量沙袋和排水设备备用。 With flood season approaching, local governments activated flood-control emergency plans in advance, evacuated and resettled residents in low-lying riverside areas, and prepositioned large quantities of sandbags and drainage equipment.
2. 今年入夏以来，长江中下游地区持续降雨，水利部门全力开展防汛抢险工作，多处堤坝险情得到了及时处置。 Since early summer, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River have seen continuous rainfall. Water authorities have been working at full strength on flood control and emergency response, and multiple dangerous levee situations were handled in time.
3. 该省投入大量资金对老旧水库进行加固升级，作为提升整体防汛能力、保障下游百万居民生命财产安全的重要举措。 The province has invested heavily to reinforce and upgrade aging reservoirs as a key measure to strengthen overall flood-control capacity and protect the lives and property of over a million downstream residents.

Usage Guide

Context: government, civil-engineering, environment, emergency

Tone: serious

Do Say

• 市防汛指挥部发出紧急通知，要求各区县立即启动一级响应机制，并确保防汛物资储备充足、人员到位。(The city's flood control headquarters issued an emergency notice requiring all districts and counties to immediately activate the Level 1 response mechanism and ensure that flood control supplies are adequately stocked and personnel are in position.)
• 工程师对水库泄洪闸进行了全面检测，确认各项防汛设施运转正常，可承受预估的最大洪峰流量。(Engineers conducted a comprehensive inspection of the reservoir's flood discharge gates, confirming that all flood control facilities are operating normally and can withstand the estimated maximum flood peak discharge.)

Don't Say

• 防止洪水 in administrative contexts — while grammatically correct, the technical administrative term is 防汛; 防止洪水 is more colloquial and general

Origin & History

防 (to prevent) + 汛 (flood season) — to prevent the damage of the flood season

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal