Armed police help battle deluge

Couple in Jiangxi province navigates through 'tiring' but 'meaningful' work

Since arriving in Poyang county, Jiangxi province, on July 10 to participate in flood control and disaster relief, 31-year-old Hua Lingyun has kept his phone on 24 hours a day.

Hua, head of the information and communication division of the mobile detachment of Jiangxi's Armed Police Force, mainly ensures lines of communication are kept open among different sections of the force.

Currently, he is working on the Jiangjialing to Zhujiaqiao section of the dike on the Changjiang River in Poyang. The river connects with Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, which is dealing with rising water levels due to heavy rainfall.

Many towns in the county were flooded, and large areas of fields and houses were still underwater. Downtown Poyang is about 3 kilometers from the dike where Hua is working. So far, the dike, newly reinforced with sandbags by the armed police, has successfully resisted the flood.

Hua's first flood-related memory is of his parents, who participated in fighting the deluge of 1998, one of the largest floods in the history of the People's Republic of China. Hua's parents are retired doctors from the Hospital of Jiangxi Provincial Armed Police Corps.

He was only 10 at the time and remembered it rained almost every day. His father came home one day, packed a bag of clothes and left quickly for a business trip. Several days later, his mother sent Hua to his grandparents' home, where he lived for over one month until his parents came back.

Hua now has a young son who is being cared for by his parents in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi. He has connected with the family almost every evening since he arrived in Poyang.

"Sometimes I cannot see my kid, because I need to deal with my work on the front line, and when I have finished the work, he has already fallen asleep," Hua said. "Of course, I miss him, and every time my parents post a video of him in the family's WeChat group, I miss him even more."

Hua participated in flood control in Jiujiang, Jiangxi, which lies north of Poyang Lake, in 2016 and 2017. But he said the flood this year is more severe.

"The highest water level was only 10 centimeters lower than the new dike built by armed police. But I was not nervous, because it didn't help to be nervous," he said. "I believe the new dike built by our comrades is very solid."

Hua needs to get up at 6 am every day and work until 1 am the next day. He said his work is much easier than those who built dikes or move sand and soil.

When armed police officers stand on the dike, they need to shoulder the responsibility of protecting the people behind it, he said.

"It is quite tiring, and many armed police officers here may fall asleep on the grassland in their wet and muddy clothes, but I think it is meaningful for us to attend to the task of fighting the flood, as every sandbag that we put on the dike can protect the people who trust us," Hua added.

Hua's wife, Liang Yaru, is also on the Jiangjialing to Zhujiaqiao section of the dike. She arrived in the county on the same day as Hua.