Soldiers wearing orange life jackets and villagers wearing straw hats were sweating profusely under the scorching sun and had been fighting for several hours. On the other side of the dam, the 30-square-kilometer Fanghu Lake has overflowed, exceeding the warning line by 2 meters. The lake overflowed the road into the village, and the first floors of some nearby houses were soaked in water.
Since the flood season began in June this year, heavy rains have continued in southern China, causing severe flooding in many provinces. As the water level of the Yangtze River surged, it caused backflow to surrounding lakes. Many lakes, including Fang Lake, were in emergency because water could not flow into the Yangtze River.
"The task of fighting floods is becoming more and more important and urgent!" Leng Ling, the police staff officer of the fourth detachment of the Second Hydropower Corps of the Armed Police, wiped the sweat on his face with a towel. The more than 40 soldiers of this small team have recently moved to many places. Their mission is to repair dangerous sections and rescue villagers besieged by floods.
"After arriving at Fanghu, I hardly slept for two days in a row." He said.
According to statistics, as of 9:00 on the 7th, floods, hailstorms, landslides, debris flows and other disasters suffered by the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River have caused 29.029 million deaths in 11 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) including Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei and Hunan. People were affected, 160 people died, 28 people were missing, 1.84 million people were urgently relocated; 56,000 houses collapsed; crops were affected in an area of 24.216 million hectares; direct economic losses were 57.85 billion yuan.
In Jiangxi Province, which has been severely affected by the disaster, the rainfall this year has been 15% higher than the average for the same period in previous years. There were 106 floods exceeding warning levels in 32 rivers in the province. Three small reservoirs collapsed, one 10,000-acre dike and two 1,000-acre dikes breached. Heavy rainfall affected 4 million people, with 4 deaths and 1 missing. 305,000 hectares of crops were damaged, 4,252 houses collapsed, and direct economic losses were nearly 6.2 billion yuan.
23-year-old soldier Wu Aoxiang said that severe floods mean that he and his comrades must constantly rescue, repair and rescue people. In the four years since he joined the army, this was the first time he participated in flood fighting and rescue operations. On the embankment, Wu Aoxiang's arms were first red and swollen and then peeled off due to days of exposure.
"As a soldier, there is no need to worry about getting tanned." Wu Aoxiang's face revealed the calmness of a veteran.
troops came from all directions to support the rescue, and the cadres and masses of Furong Farm were not idle either.
Yang Kai, a 53-year-old primary school teacher, has been working on the dike as a "dyke patrolman" for four days. He introduced that the most important danger now is the danger of piping, which refers to the loss of fine soil in the dam from the gaps under the action of seepage water, forming a through-flow seepage channel in the embankment body, gradually hollowing out the foundation soil of the embankment, and eventually causing a collapse. Accidents such as embankments and dam collapses.
Yang Kai and other villagers work in groups of three and work in three shifts every day, taking turns checking the dam from morning to night. "If there is muddy water flowing out from under the embankment, a small red flag will be erected at that location to remind the troops to carry out emergency repairs." After simple training, they have mastered the basic knowledge of patrolling embankments to inspect dangers.
When
was resting, Yang Kai and the fellow villagers brought water and drinks to the soldiers. "I feel very distressed when I see these soldiers sitting on the embankment eating, covered with mud." Yang Kai said, "They are about the same age as my children."
For the soldiers, before the sun gradually sets, watching Eating a hot box lunch at sunset is a rare moment of relaxation in the days of flood fighting and rescue operations. However, more tests are yet to come. As Typhoon " Nibert " approaches, many southern provinces, including Jiangxi, may still experience heavy rainfall, making the already severe flood situation worse.
"But I believe we will eventually win this tough battle!" One soldier said with confidence.
