The island province of Hainan in south China has ramped up rescue efforts to evacuate residents amid continuous rainstorms caused by the combined influence of Typhoon Trami and cold air masses.
Rainstorms have swept across Hainan since Saturday under the impact of the residual low vortex of Typhoon Trami and cold air masses, causing serious flooding in several cities.
As of Wednesday morning, a precipitation of 400 to 500 millimeters were recorded in parts of central and eastern Hainan, while parts of Qiongzhong Li and Miao Autonomous County and Qionghai City reported a precipitation of over 1,000 millimeters.
Seven towns along the Wanquan River in Qionghai were flooded to varying degrees, with Shibi Town and Longjiang Town in the worst situation, where communications were cut off and road traffic blocked.
A large number of residential buildings have been flooded in Bintan Village of Longjiang Town, where the accumulated water was up to more than two meters deep.
Rescuers started evacuation as soon as they arrived at the village on Wednesday afternoon.
The rescuers branched out into two groups, with a group flying above the village in helicopter to locate trapped villagers and the other going deep into the village on rubber boats.
After entering the village, rescuers found several trapped children and elderly people with limited mobility.
"The main problem is there are too many trees and it is hard to move, not easy to operate the boat as woods often scratch the paddles, so we cannot move easily," said Tao Yucheng, leader of the Garrison Policing Squadron of the Hainan Provincial Military District.
"We dispatched a total of 43 rescuers, 10 inflatable boats and three rubber boats. [We conduct our rescue operations] in two directions of Jiaji and Longjiang towns. The situation in Longjiang is worse," said Yu Xiaojun, leader of the Garrison Policing Group of the Hainan Provincial Military District.
So far, the Hainan Provincial Military District has dispatched over 880 soldiers and militias to conduct rescue and relief operations in Qionghai.
Firefighters are also an important rescue force in Qionghai.
A pregnant woman was about to labor at around 06:00 on Wednesday. She lives on the fifth floor, but the community had a severe waterlogging then, which made it hard for the ambulance to reach.
Firefighters, along with two medical workers, carried the expectant mother downstairs on a stretcher and transferred her to the ambulance.
The fire department received a call for help at around 13:00 Wednesday, saying that six people, including children and elderly people, were trapped on the second floor of a residential building in Dongyuan Village.
The firefighters rushed to the village and evacuated them to safe area by rubber boats.
From 11:30 on Monday to 19:00 on Wednesday, the fire department conducted 82 rescue operations, evacuating 847 residents.
Hainan steps up evacuation of flood-trapped residents
