BEIJING — Some 1,500 firefighters have been dispatched to East China's Anhui province to support the anti-flood fight, the Ministry of Emergency Management said on July 20.

The firefighters, gathered from different provincial-level regions, rushed to the front in areas including Wuhu and Chuzhou of the province, the ministry said.

Since the start of the flood season, the country's firefighting and rescue teams have participated in 7,961 rescue and flood-relief missions, with about 122,000 people stranded in floods rescued or evacuated.

The total number of firefighters sent to the flood-relief front stood at about 95,700, while trips made by fire trucks and boats were about 13,800 and 8,273 respectively, the ministry said.

Data released on July 17 showed that heavy rain had disrupted the lives of more than 3.06 million people in Anhui province.

The downpours, which started on July 2, affected 11 cities and 65 county-level administrations in the province, leading to the evacuation of some 585,100 people and a direct economic loss of nearly 12.15 billion yuan (about $1.74 billion), as of 11 am on July 17, the provincial disaster-reduction and relief committee office said.