NANCHANG, July 13 -- Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province is the largest freshwater lake in China. On July 12, the water level at its Xingzi hydrological station exceeded the record of 22.52 meters reached during a major flood in 1998, indicating that Poyang Lake has got the highest flood level since its hydrological records began.
Severe situation requires urgent actions. The Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) dispatched a number of units to carry out flood control and emergency rescue in Jiangxi Province.
At 6:00 p.m. on July 12, more than 2,300 service members assigned to a brigade of the 71st Group Army hurried to 10 flood-hit counties and districts. Meanwhile, a brigade of the 72nd Group Army also dispatched more than 1,500 troops who rushed hundreds of kilometers to Poyang County. They have strengthened more than 1,000 meters of dams, carried out more than 300 cubic meters of earthwork, and plugged more than 20 piping places.
Besides, officers and soldiers assigned to a radar brigade, an air-defense missile brigade and an aviation division of the air force under the PLA Eastern Theater Command have also been sent successively to support Jiangxi's flood control tasks from July 11 to 12. By the morning of July 13, the air force troops have filled more than 36,400 sandbags, reinforced more than 1,000 meters of dykes, dredged 34 trenches, blocked four places of piping, and handled 1,300 square meters of piping operation surface.