On the front lines of China's flood battle

Firefighters search for people stranded in the floods in Poyang county, Jiangxi province, on Tuesday. WANG QI/CHINA DAILY

NANCHANG -- As water sits two meters above the alert level in vast Fanghu Lake in east China's Jiangxi Province, soldiers use forklifts to pour gravel to reinforce the embankment.

They are helped in their task by locals, many of them working furiously to fill sandbags with earth beside the lake, a 30-square-km body of water connected to the even mightier Yangtze River.

With China suffering disastrous flooding during the latest summer rains, the dangerously high water levels in Fanghu Lake could cause yet more misery.

"We are facing huge pressure from possible floods," said Leng Ling, a staff officer with the fourth division of the Armed Police Hydropower Forces (APHF) at the site.

The 40-plus members of Leng's division have been working day and night over the past month to strengthen dams, rescue residents from their flooded homes and send anyone sick or injured to hospital.

"A few days ago, we were working to strengthen the dam in Jingdezhen City, which was almost inundated," Leng said. "The troops kept working in the water and did not sleep for more than 50 hours."

Since the high water season began in early June, China has mobilized soldiers, officials and the public to guard against flooding, which had left 160 people dead and 28 missing in 11 provincial regions by Thursday.

According to the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, the water levels of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze and major fresh-water lakes like Poyang and Dongting are all rising, exceeding warning lines in many sections.

Xinhua reporters this week visited Jiangxi, one of the worst hit areas by floods this year, to see how disaster prevention and relief work is being conducted there.

"Saving people's lives first"

Jiangxi has seen 15 percent more rain than previous years' average. The deluge has caused the water levels of the Yangtze to rise and flow back to its tributaries and lakes.

For Wu Aoxiang, the situation has meant intense work on the front line.