[Evening, May 12, 2008] Town leaders, in three groups, patrol in the rain

Hu Tao's work diary •Afternoon, May 12, 2008 •Evening, May 12, 2008 •May 13, 2008 ?Morning, May 14, 2008 •Afternoon, May 14, 2008 •May 15, 2008 ?May 16, 2008 •May 17, 2008 ?May 18, 2008 ?Postscript

6:00 PM, news arrived from people who had inspected the disaster situation: Nanyue Village, 11 people dead; Bayigou, 2; school, 2… 

7:30 PM, it's raining. Young people were organized to collect firewood and make fires to keep warm. 

10:00 PM, our first dinner after earthquake: only porridge. 

After dinner, six town and village leaders divided into three groups and patrolled the resettlement areas every two hours. Our priority was to comfort and stabilize the masses. 

The rain continued. We didn't sleep a wink all night long. Nor did we have any contact with the outer world.