A village in Baoji City of northwest China's Shaanxi Province has suffered serious damages from floods, with the People's Armed Police Force (PAP) officers overcoming difficulties to transport important supplies to the affected villagers.
The floods were triggered by continuous heavy rainfalls starting from Tuesday evening, and the floods have gradually receded since Friday.
The 24-hour rainfall in the city's Pingmu Township reached 162.4 millimeters, and local water and electricity supplies, transportation and communications were cut down.
In Liujiazhuang Village of the township, bridges were destroyed by the floods, and some vehicles and agricultural facilities were buried in muds.
"Like these big rocks, mixed with water flowing down, hitting each other, what you can hear is not the sound of water flowing, but the sound of rocks colliding and rumbling, and the water is rising step by step," said Zhang Yao, director of the market supervision and administration office of Pingmu Township.
Households near the river have suffered bigger losses. According to villagers, the floods had hit their yards and rooms and swept away livestock and furniture.
"The water rushed into my room and the TV and refrigerator floated up and moved the bed away," said villager Chen Hongqin.
On Friday, a team of PAP officers trekked through mountains and rivers and overcame various obstacles along the way, and delivered supplies including bedding, rice, flour, grain, and oil to a remote resettlement site after over two hours of hiking.
The temporary resettlement site accommodates 17 people, including elderly people and children.
"The water rushed into the house and was higher than me. It all accumulated inside the house. When we saw the government officials and the soldiers coming, we were so excited that we didn't know how to express it. It was like we saw hope, and we felt relieved. They brought us food, daily necessities and quilts," said villager Hu Yanli.
Town and village cadres evacuated seven villagers to a safer area downstream on Friday afternoon, and stayed with the rest after the situation further stabilizes.
"With the help of the PAP forces, we delivered 40 bags of rice, flour and oil, which can meet the basic living needs of the affected residents for seven to 10 days. When the flood and rain situation stabilize, we will transfer them to a safer area," said Deng Zhenyu, mayor of Pingmu Township.
As of 0:00 Saturday, Pingmu Township had relocated 220 households and 450 people, including 61 households and 132 people in centralized resettlement and 159 households and 318 people in decentralized resettlement.
Flood relief efforts underway in hard-hit village in Shaanxi
