BEIJING, June 29 -- China's armed forces have devoted tens of thousands of troops to relieve flood-hit cities in the Yangtze River Delta.

Some 11,000 have been deployed to Nanjing, Changzhou and Wuxi, which are still being pounded by torrential downpours, said the Nanjing Military Area Command (NMAC) of the People's Liberation Army on Monday.

An infantry brigade of the NMAC mobilized more than 1,000 soldiers on Sunday evening to drain the main road to Nanjing airport. It had been totally submerged due to a levee bursting nearby.

They are employing heavy engineering machinery, steamboats, pontoons and pile planting machines to restore the dam.

The NMAC also sent about 600 troops to rescue flood-cornered people in Changzhou of Jiangsu Province on Sunday. They have moved more than 400 people to safety.

It's common for China to mobilize the armed forces in times of natural disaster. In 1998, more than 300,000 troops participated in the relief work for unprecedented floods that swept over half of the country. In 2008, 220,000 troops came to help quake-hit Sichuan.