Flood watchmen steer hazards away for villagers

It has been raining frequently in Lan Haijun's hometown in Pingxiang, Jiangxi province. For most people in his village of Dafeng, it's leisure time when it rains. For Lan, however, rain makes him a lot busier.

Riding his motorcycle, the 44-year-old has been patrolling local water bodies and major roads for safety hazards, sometimes even late at night. If he finds any, he calls the emergency authorities.

Lan is a full-time farmer and a part-time disaster watchman.

As China celebrates the 12th National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Day on Tuesday, Lan is just one of over 700,000 people across the country who have been watching for hazards due to flood season, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

These grassroots lookouts have played an important role in helping emergency authorities send out warnings and roll out emergency measures in a timely fashion, the ministry said.

Last year, with the help of watchmen like Lan, authorities across the country received 82,000 reports about natural disasters, up by 23.4 percent from the five-year average, according to a media release from the ministry on Monday.

In sharp contrast to the increase of such information, the number of casualties caused by natural disasters last year fell by 25 percent from the five-year average, while economic losses dropped by 24 percent.

"The information from the watchmen about natural disasters has offered strong support for decision-making for emergency management authorities," it said.

Lan's work is an example of the important role these watchmen play in reducing losses in natural disasters.

In the wee hours of July 9, he found a major collapse on a highway after the area had been deluged by downpours for days. Thanks to the early warning and the emergency measures taken by local authorities, no injuries or casualties occurred before the road was cleared.

Though Lan only earns a little over 200 yuan ($28) a month from his part-time job, he said that as a Party member, "it's his great honor to do something for people."

In a recent case on May 6, all residents near a site where a landslide was happening in Yingshan county, Hubei province, were evacuated in a timely manner after a watchman reported the hazard to local authorities. No people were injured or killed thanks to the timely evacuation.

"There have been a lot of similar cases in recent years," the ministry said.

Zhong Shifu, deputy head of Jiangxi's emergency management department, said, however, that more investment is needed to help enhance emergency management capabilities at the grassroots level.

The department will make concerted efforts with other government bodies to enhance training for these watchmen while increasing subsidies and arming them with necessary vehicles and communication equipment, he said.