The photo shows a diary written by an eight-year-old boy, in which he writes of missing and worrying about his father as he joined the flood relief effort. [Photo/Weibo]

A moving diary entry during flood relief

An eight-year-old boy's diary, in which he writes of missing and worrying about his father as he joined the flood relief effort, has touched his father's heart and those of others.

Yang Zhenyu, head of the Danyang Police Station in Maanshan, East China's Anhui province, has been working on the frontline during flood relief efforts since June 30, when continuous rain caused dangerous flooding in the Huajin River.

Yang's son wrote the diary entry on Wednesday with the title "I worry about you, Dad," local news website anhuinews.com reported.

"Flood can knock down houses, inundate cities and leave lots of people homeless. Can my father pass through the barrier? I worry about him," the son wrote.

"I have no seen him for seven days, because he is a police officer. Dad, I worry about you, protect yourself."

Yang said he was moved a lot when his wife sent a copy of the diary entry to him on his mobile phone. He said he was sorry for not going home, but he would fight the floods.

In the past week, Yang has been working to relocate people, patrolling dykes and maintaining order at the shelters.

He said he was too busy to go home, and that he could only make some short phone calls, a few minutes a day. He told his family that he hurt his waist in a fall during relief work several days ago, which caused his son to worry about him.

Yang said, in his son's view, the father, as a police officer, was a super hero and invincible, but now that the floods hurt him, the son felt frustrated.