PLA deploys 5,700 to aid disaster relief efforts after C China floods

The People's Liberation Army has deployed more than 5,700 troops and militiamen in Central China's Henan province as of 3 pm on Wednesday to take part in disaster-relief efforts in the flood-stricken province.

The PLA Central Theater Command said on Wednesday afternoon that the disaster-aid force, with 148 vehicles and boats, had been in more than 30 hazardous areas in Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Xinxiang and other places across Henan to assist in local governments' endeavors to curb the aftermath of city floods, debris flow and landslides.

The command activated an emergency response plan and established a front disaster-relief headquarters. Its top commanders have been in the joint command center to oversee efforts over the past two days.

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 dike in Yichuan county to explode the dike to divert flood water.

The largest group in the mobilized force — more than 2,000 militiamen from the PLA Henan Provincial Command — was sent to more than 10 places to help to clear river courses, examine and monitor river banks and dikes, and relocate affected residents.

The PLA Air Force's parachute force ordered a brigade 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.

In addition, thousands of troops from 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 and some other military units had been deployed by Wednesday afternoon in multiple regions in the province to assist in disaster relief.

Moreover, the PLA Central Theater Command said it had used military satellites and aircraft to monitor situations in the flood-hit areas.