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Volunteers Rise to Challenge in Flood-stricken Henan

Source:China Daily Published:2021-07-27 15:52

Rescue teams help evacuate residents in Xinxiang, Henan province, on Friday. Wang Jing/China Daily

Thousands answer calls to help with disaster relief work

Zhou Jing, who runs a dessert shop in Hefei, capital of Anhui province, messaged her hairdresser for an appointment last week, expecting the customary quick reply.

However, her request went unanswered for nearly an entire day.

The 28-year-old rang a friend to complain about this, but the friend advised her to look at the latest post from the hairdresser, who has served Zhou for six years.

The post, sent by Yu Tao at 6:32 am on Wednesday, read: "Terribly sorry, but I'm not only a hairdresser but also a member of the Hefei Blue Sky Rescue Team. Very severe urban flooding has occurred in Zhengzhou, Henan province. Last night, we received a request to help with local rescue efforts, and we have set off."

Feeling both surprised and proud, Zhou posted news of Yu's spirited response to the crisis on Sina Weibo, little expecting the post to become an online sensation.

As of Sunday afternoon, the post had been liked nearly 900,000 times and appeared with about 20,000 related comments. Many netizens also posted news of people they know who rushed to Henan to help, including restaurant owners and cooks.

Replying to netizens' comments, Zhou said: "Every ordinary person can be a hero for our people. They may work in jobs that are not that impressive, but when needed, they brave difficulties to safeguard our peace and safety."

Zhou's hairdresser is one of thousands of civilian rescue team members from across the nation helping with disaster relief work in Henan by tackling formidable challenges posed by historically rare torrential rain and floods.

In an online video, hairdresser Yu said he was surprised to have attracted so much attention in cyberspace.

Rescue teams help evacuate residents in Xinxiang, Henan province, on Friday. Wu Xiaohui/China Daily

"I don't understand why that happened," he said, standing ankle-deep in muddy water. "All our team members have set aside everything related to their ordinary work and have come to help. I don't think that in any way I am outstanding."

According to Blue Sky Rescue, Yu is one of the 856 members who have been at the forefront of flood relief work in Henan since 4 pm on Wednesday. The organization, which is headquartered in Beijing, is the country's first registered nonprofit volunteer outfit.

Just 24 hours earlier, Zhengzhou, the Henan provincial capital, was hit by record hourly precipitation of up to 201.9 millimeters.

Liu Daqing, a member of Blue Sky Rescue in Shandong province, who works for an insurance company, said his 87-strong team comprising members across the province started to gather around midnight on Tuesday soon after receiving a request to reinforce flood control efforts in Henan.

Traveling in cars, the group members quickly joined evacuation work after arriving in Xinmi, a county in Zhengzhou, at about 9 am amid torrential rain. After the situation improved in Xinmi, the group headed to Xinxiang, one of the hardest-hit cities, at 4 am on Friday.

"We are currently stationed at a school, living in students' dorms. We have nothing but cushions on our beds," Liu posted.

Rain and flooding eased in urban areas of Xinxiang on Saturday as the water level dropped. However, floodwaters up to 2 meters deep continued to cause havoc in many rural areas. One car broke down as the team members sought a return route from an evacuation mission on Saturday in an area inundated by flooding.

Despite the grave situation, Liu's teammates are continuing to apply to go to Henan.

Liu said at least 1,400 fellow volunteers nationwide have registered with Blue Sky Rescue's temporary headquarters in the province.

The organization is one of at least 103 civilian rescue teams that arrived in the province on Wednesday, according to China Philanthropy Times, quoting a center set up to coordinate the work of civilians in Zhengzhou.

It is not the first time that the nation's civilian rescue teams have taken part in flood disaster relief work.

Members of Green Boat Emergency Rescue relocate residents trapped for three days in Dakui village, Xinxiang, on Saturday. China Daily

In August last year, Zhou Xuewen, director-general of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, said more than 14,000 people from some 500 civilian rescue teams across the country had joined flood alleviation efforts in southern areas.

With their own funding and equipment, the civilian rescuers helped relocate 40,000 people from affected locations, Zhou told a news conference organized by the State Council Information Office.

To date, 1,775 civilian rescue teams with a total of 620,000 members are registered in China, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

Residents are rescued from flooded villages in Xinxiang. Wang Jing/China Daily

Lack of sleep

Heading a team of 12 with an average age of about 30, Du Botao, who runs a hardware store in Fuxian county, Shaanxi province, was one of those who arrived in Henan on Wednesday.

Du said members of his group from the nonprofit emergency rescue organization Leiting, which translates as "quick as lightning", only managed to get a few hours' sleep every day due to the amount of rescue work.

He said they got to bed around midnight on Saturday after rushing to Weihui county from Zhengzhou to help cope with the grim situation. Just two hours later, after they had been involved in a rescue operation in chest-high water, they were called out again on another urgent mission.

After part of a dam was breached on the Weihe River, they were told to go to a location where there were potential hazards and stand by in case there was an emergency. However, no breaches occurred in the section of the dam the team members were guarding.

"I had never seen such severe flooding. I was scared," Du said.

His children attend kindergarten, and Du said he phoned home every day. "I know they worry about me a lot, although they never tell me that," he said.

He added that it seems as if his team members never feel tired and hungry, even though their clothes are drenched by muddy water and their skin is heavily bronzed by the sun.

"When local residents applaud their efforts, they feel shy and only respond by giggling," Du said.

Residents in Muye district, Xinxiang, are relocated to a temporary shelter on Sunday morning. Wu Xiaohui/China Daily

Li Feng, head of Green Boat Emergency Rescue, which is also headquartered in Beijing, said her organization sent 31 members to help with disaster relief work in Henan. The team members include a bus driver, doctor and a businessman.

Li, who works for an international company in Beijing, did not travel to Henan, but she has barely managed to get more than three hours' sleep for the past few days as she liaises with team members on the distribution of disaster relief materials.

In addition to helping local authorities monitor flood-stricken areas, evacuate residents and assist doctors in providing medical services in isolated locations, the team has allocated disaster relief materials to residents in 10 remote villages, Li said.

To date, the team has distributed materials valued at 5 million yuan ($771,000), she added.

"I haven't slept much, not only because I am busy with coordination work, but also because I am worried about the safety of my team," she said.

Li said media reports have appeared about dangerous situations, such as the dam breach and an explosion at a chemical plant. She added, "The team often had no mobile phone signal and I couldn't get in touch with them."

Li Yingzhan, a farmer in Weihui county, suburban Xinxiang, attempts to pull his wife and mother to safety on Friday. Wang Jing/China Daily

Floodwaters up to 2 meters deep in some areas continue to challenge the team.

Despite local authorities allocating two assault boats to help the team's work on Saturday, the group members had yet to reach the vessels, which were 14 kilometers away, as they lacked transportation to pass through areas inundated by flooding and those that were not under floodwaters.

Li said she expects the team to return soon, signaling the end of one task, but not others.

"As an organization that concentrates on rescue work, we seldom engage in disaster relief efforts. With the arrival of Typhoon In-Fa, we may have to withdraw the team members as soon as possible," she said.

The team members have been on standby in case their services are required since the typhoon made landfall in Zhejiang province on Sunday.

Some of them need to return to their normal occupations, Li added.

Editor:Zhao Hanqing