Flood prevention and disaster relief operations are in full swing across China, with legions of emergency responders deployed to ensure the safety of millions of people during the ongoing summer flood season.
Rescue efforts are underway after continuous heavy rainfall triggered mountain torrents in Yuzhong County, northwest China's Gansu Province, leaving 15 dead and dozens of missing so far, local authorities said.
Torrential rain began pounding Yuzhong, which is under the jurisdiction of the provincial capital city of Lanzhou, and other areas of Lanzhou on Thursday evening, with the maximum precipitation reaching 220.2 mm by noon Friday. Eight towns in Yuzhong have been seriously affected.
In the worst-hit village of Maliantan, rescuers trekked in on foot with ropes, detectors and stretchers, in meticulous efforts to search for the missing people in the villages of Maliantan, Jiuzhuanggou and Xinglongshan.
"We have intensified our search and rescue operations. We will resolutely implement President Xi Jinping's important instructions, prioritizing the search for the missing people. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, we will never give up," said Zhang Shenghua, deputy chief of the Gansu Fire and Rescue Brigade.
At the First People's Hospital of Yucheng County, 26 specialists from six top provincial hospitals are joining their local peers in treating the survivors - most for fractures and bruises.
Authorities have requisitioned 54 hotels and set up 14 temporary shelters in schools and village committees to house more than 9,800 displaced residents.
At the hardest-hit Xinglongshan scenic spot, rescuers are still clearing debris and reinforcing the foundation of the only highway linking the county seat to the tourist attraction.
By 18:00 Saturday, power had been restored to 80 percent of the disaster zone and mobile networks were largely back online.
China's National Commission for Disaster Prevention, Reduction and Relief and the Ministry of Emergency Management have dispatched 10,000 relief items including folding beds, winter quilts, emergency lights to the affected areas in Gansu.
The Ministry of Finance has allocated 120 million yuan (about 16.7 million U.S. dollars) for search-and-rescue operations, relocation of the affected, emergency repairs and the reconstruction of damaged homes in Gansu and north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Meanwhile, the seasonal peak of China's flood season continues to threaten other regions.
In Zhengzhou, capital city of central China's Henan Province, authorities issued a yellow alert for rainstorm on Saturday and deployed mobile pumps and extra drainage lines at low-lying intersections.
"We will resolutely implement President Xi Jinping's important instructions, enhancing risk forecasting and early warnings, intensifying the identification and rectification of potential hazards, and reinforcing emergency duty shifts. We are determined to shoulder our responsibilities in flood prevention and disaster relief to ensure the safety of the city and the people," said Yu Xianlong, deputy head of the Drainage Division under the Zhengzhou City Administration Bureau.
In a separate move, the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee allocated 32 million yuan (about 4.46 million U.S. dollars) to Gansu and south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to bolster the disaster relief efforts.
Search for missing people, relief operations continue in flood-hit Chinese regions
