Drainage teams rush to Henan after river breach

Specialized emergency drainage teams arrived in Zhoukou, Henan province, on Sunday morning, to pump floodwaters out of urban areas following the repair of a massive embankment breach along the Jialu River.

The 13 teams, mobilized from Henan, Shaanxi, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong and Hunan provinces, had arrived on site in Zhoukou by 9 am on Sunday and begun drainage operations.

Equipped with heavy-duty pumping units, they possess a combined drainage capacity of roughly 220,000 cubic meters per hour. The deployment includes personnel from the natural disaster engineering emergency rescue center of the Ministry of Emergency Management, eight national workplace safety rescue teams, and technical crews from machinery manufacturers including XCMG and Changsha Dewater.

The deployment followed the successful closure of a breach on the Jialu River embankment in Zhoukou's Chuanhui district at 8:29 pm on Saturday. The breach occurred at around 11 pm on Thursday on the eastern bank of the Jialu River and at one point widened to some 117 meters, allowing river water to pour into surrounding urban areas. No casualties were reported.

According to the ministry, the breach was caused by torrents of water flowing down from the upper reaches of the Jialu River, combined with backwater pressure from the Shaying River.

Soon after the breach, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and the Ministry of Emergency Management dispatched a working group to the site to guide emergency operations.

The ministry also deployed 200 rescue personnel, along with 110 sets of large engineering machinery and equipment, including powered pontoon bridges, amphibious excavators and loaders. The forces arrived at the site by 10 am on Friday and joined the emergency repair operation.

Also on Friday, at the request of Henan's flood control and drought relief headquarters, central authorities allocated flood-control materials to support rescue operations in the province. The supplies included 100,000 woven bags, 100,000 square meters each of coated woven fabric and filament geotextile, 100 anti-piping emergency units, 200 flood-control bulk bags, 500 wire mesh units and 500 foldable metal gabions.

Authorities also dispatched 15 rescue boats, 1,000 life jackets, more than 100 sets of lighting equipment and 10 drainage units.

Relief assistance was further increased on Sunday as authorities continued efforts to relocate affected residents and ensure basic living needs. The Red Cross Society of China allocated an additional 5,500 relief items, including family emergency kits and blankets, to flood-hit areas in Henan.