BEIJING, July 15 -- Ordered by the Central Military Commission (CMC), the PLA Eastern Theater Command on July 14 dispatched additional 16,000 soldiers with rescue equipment from Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui and Fujian Provinces to carry out rescue and disaster relief operations in flood-stricken cities including Shangrao, Jiujiang and other areas of Jiangxi Province.
Up to now, more than 29,000 soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the People's Armed Police (PAP), together with more than 5,000 militia, have been fighting side by side in the flood-stricken areas to reinforce dams, block pipings and deal with hidden dangers.
Severe water seepage occurred at many places in the flood control dam of Jiujiang City in Jiangxi Province on the evening of July 12. A division assigned to the air force under the PLA Eastern Theater Command immediately organized an emergency rescue team to the scene. Officers and soldiers fought overnight and effectively controlled the situation.
On the early morning of July 14th, the flood crest arrived in Jiujiang section of Yangtze River. More than 400 service members assigned to an army pontoon brigade under the PLA Eastern Theater Command rushed to downtown area in the flood-hit Lushan city along the river. They continuously fought for 10 hours and blocked over ten places of piping.
As of July 14, a brigade of the PLA Rocket Force has deployed a total of 597 troops, completed ten rescue missions, and controlled 33 dangerous situations. The PAP has dispatched a total of 7,550 soldiers, 482 construction machinery vehicles, 96 boats, carrying 22,973 pieces (sets) of equipment. They participated in emergency rescue missions in Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Sichuan and other provinces, while having transferred a total of 980 people, piled up more than 97,000 sand bags, and reinforced 9,660 meters of dams.