PLA mobilizes Henan forces to help with disaster relief

The People's Liberation Army has mobilized its forces in Henan province to take part in the disaster-relief efforts in the province that has been ravaged by torrential rains.

The PLA Central Theater Command said on Wednesday morning that it has activated an emergency response plan and established a front disaster-relief headquarters. More than 3,000 officers, soldiers and militiamen have been deployed in 10 regions to assist in local governments' endeavors to curb aftermaths after city floods, debris flow and landslides, according to a statement from the command.

Its top commanders had been in the joint command center to oversee the efforts over the past two days, the statement noted.

The first military unit mobilized was the engineering and anti-chemical brigade of the PLA Ground Force's 83rd Group Army. The brigade sent its troops early on Tuesday morning to a damaged dyke in Yichuan county to explode the dyke to divert flood water.

On Tuesday, troops from the PLA Henan Provincial Command, the People's Armed Police Force's Henan Provincial Command, the PLA Zhengzhou Joint Logistics Support Center, the PLA Strategic Support Force's Information Engineering University as well as the PLA 988th Hospital also partook in the disaster aid operations, helping to reinforce anti-flood facilities, relocate residents, monitor hazards and transfer injured people.

The newest deployment took place early on Wednesday morning as a brigade of the PLA Air Force's parachute force was ordered by the Central Theater Command to reinforce two hazardous dam breaches along the Jialu River in Kaifeng's Xiangfu district.

The brigade rushed 650 troops and 38 vehicles to the breaches. Soldiers had built a 1.5-kilometer-long, 1.2-meter-tall sandbag wall, according to the brigade.