Fears voiced as underwater hazards hamper team

An inflatable boat was pierced by sharp objects under the water about a week ago as it was being used by a rescue team to evacuate residents from a flooded building in Zhuozhou, Hebei province, a city hit hard by recent heavy rainfall and flooding.

Lu Mei, 52, director of the Tianlong Rescue team from neighboring Shanxi province, said, "It was fortunate that the vessel didn't deflate before two of our rescue team brought several residents to safety."

The team, comprising more than 190 members, rushed to Zhuozhou on Aug 1 after hearing that people were trapped at home after their properties were partly submerged in floodwater, Lu said.

The team used 34 inflatable boats and a dozen drones, among numerous other items of equipment, to carry out rescue missions in the city.

As of Sunday, it had helped the local authorities evacuate more than 2,800 residents. The team had also taken part in 50 missions to transfer relief supplies.

"We are glad to provide help during the disaster, because saving people is our only desire and mission," said Lu, who founded the civilian rescue team in 2010. The team is registered with the Department of Civil Affairs in Shanxi.

However, the fact that vessels can be pierced worried Lu, as it is hard for the helmsmen to notice, let alone avoid, sharp objects in murky floodwater.

"I feared more boats would be damaged, and that this would affect our rescue mission," she said.

The pierced vessel was repaired for free by members of the Blue Leopard Rescue team from Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

But Lu decided against using such vessels again, instead completing the rescue work with boats whose hulls had hard rubber protection.

"Frequent piercing and related repair work will cost a lot of time, which for us means lives," she said, adding that she always thought hard about strengthening the team's rescue equipment to avoid such incidents.

Lu said that as a civilian rescue team, which is non-profit, equipment is a major issue, as it needs upgrading and maintenance from time to time, which is expensive.

Her team now has equipment for search and rescue missions in disasters such as flooding, earthquakes and tornadoes.

"Some items of equipment were donated by kind-hearted people, some by governments, while others were bought with money pooled together by our team members," she said.

In cooperation with One Foundation, a public welfare foundation based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, the Shanxi team obtains financing for rescue missions such as that in Zhuozhou.

The team has also cooperated with companies, including the ride-hailing platform Didi Chuxing. These companies sometimes offer to sponsor rescue operations.

"We have received a lot of help from these companies and foundations, as well as governments, in supporting our rescue work, but there's no sustainable development model yet for a civilian team such as ours," Lu said.

She added that her team has more than 3,000 members in Shanxi, most of whom have their own jobs, but gather together when required for rescue missions.