Shanghai's 1st rescue force springs into action in flood-ravaged Zhuozhou
Members of the Shanghai Z-Care rescue team evacuate stranded people in Zhuozhou City, north China's Hebei Province, on Wednesday.
Braving treacherous waters and debris, Shanghai's civil rescue force, Z-Care, achieved a remarkable feat by safely evacuating 18 trapped individuals from a perilous timber factory in flood-ravaged Zhuozhou City in north China's Hebei Province.
The daunting situation at the factory, with water depths reaching up to 20 meters and rapid currents strewn with floating wooden boards and logs, had proven to be an insurmountable challenge for previous rescue teams.
Six rescue boats from previous missions had been rendered inoperable due to the hazardous conditions.
Hong Yunyin, the frontline liaison officer of the Shanghai Z-Care Emergency Rescue Team, recounted their relentless efforts. "We made multiple attempts to rush to the scene and finally succeeded."
As of 6pm Wednesday, the Z-Care team had rescued or evacuated nearly 200 stranded individuals, half of them women and children, utilizing two rubber rafts during their daring operations, Hong told Shanghai Daily.
The arrival of the first Shanghai civil rescue force in Zhuozhou has become a beacon of hope amidst the ongoing deluge wreaking havoc in the northern parts of the country.
Undeterred by the perilous conditions, these eight brave members have been on the mission since July 31, offering timely assistance and resilience in the face of nature's relentless fury.
Heavy rainfall brought by Typhoon Doksuri has been continuously battering the capital Beijing and the surrounding Tianjin City and Hebei in north China.
A rescue boat of Shanghai Z-Care rushes towards people stranded by floods.
Zhuozhou issued the top red alert for flood and rainstorm on July 31 and urgently activated flood control measures. The city authority reached out to the Shanghai rescue team based in suburban Jiading District for assistance.
The eight-member team arrived in Taoyuan District of Zhuozhou on August 1 at 2pm and immediately got down to work in rescue operations.
Hong described the situation in Zhuozhou as critical, as the area was in a flood discharge zone. Some residents were trapped due to a failure to evacuate promptly.
Liu Shuzhe, a rescuer with Z-Care, recalled that most of the main road in Taoyuan was knee-deep in water. When the rescuers reached the timber factory, almost all the buildings were submerged.
Hong explained that the rescue team used inflatable boats and were led by local guides to search for and evacuate people stranded in their homes.
Once they safely moved the residents to a relatively secure location, other rescue personnel took over and facilitated their further evacuation.
"Currently, we have two boats with eight people on a rotating shift," Hong revealed. He said the team anticipated completing all rescue missions in Taoyuan District on Wednesday, after which they will bravely forge ahead to tackle subsequent missions.
Most roads in Zhuozhou have been inundated.
Zhuozhou has formed 28 emergency rescue teams comprising a total of 8,755 personnel, working together with troops and professional rescue teams, like Z-Care and Blue Sky, to provide full support and assistance.
According to the latest hydrological data, as of 4am on Wednesday, the flow rate of the Baigou River in Zhuozhou had stabilized at 2,690 cubic meters per second and is continuing to decrease, Xinhua news agency reported.
Civil rescue forces from across the country have joined hands with Zhuozhou's firefighters in an effort to carry out rescue operations for stranded individuals amidst the devastating floods.
The Zhuozhou firefighters responded swiftly, successfully moving a pregnant woman and her family to safety in Yongle Village on Monday. Additionally, they evacuated six stranded individuals to secure locations on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the Hangzhou-based Ramunion Rescue Team's aviation task force deployed a helicopter to carry out emergency evacuations for people stranded on isolated islands, rendering them inaccessible by boats and vehicles.
The farmlands in Zhuozhou have also been flooded.
