As continual downpours drenched the area, rescue teams raced against time in motorboats to save residents trapped in their homes.
On July 1, a street in the province’s Pingjiang county was hit by flood water, submerging ground-floor homes and shifting masses of debris including computers and household appliances.
At one point, three men, almost shoulder-deep in water, grabbed a bedsheet hanging from a second-floor window of a house to stabilise themselves and avoid being swept away by the debris.
While doing so, two of them supported an exhausted pregnant woman with their legs and torsos, while the third constantly shouted for help.
The trio took turns supporting the woman in the water for more than three hours until help finally arrived.
When the rescue boat reached them, one of the men shouted: “Save my wife first. She has no strength left and she is pregnant.”
The rescue team pulled all four of the exhausted survivors aboard.
They were suffering badly from the effects of being immersed in the water for so long.
Despite trembling uncontrollably, the husband repeatedly said to the rescue team: “Thank you for saving our lives.”
Liu Jun, one of the rescuers, said: “It was very brave and strong of them to support the pregnant woman for over three hours there.”
The heroic trio moved many people on mainland social media.
“Thumbs up for these three civilian heroes. They are really selfless,” one online observer wrote on Weibo.
“Humans may seem insignificant in the face of natural disasters, but humanity always shines with warmth,” another said.
The flood in Hunan province has been described as the worst in nearly 70 years.
As of July 3, reports showed that floods in 14 cities in the province had killed 27 people. Eight more remain missing.
In the hardest-hit area of Pingjiang county, residential communities and streets were submerged in muddy flood water, with levels reaching up to three metres. The water even engulfed traffic lights.
A total of about 360,000 people in the county were affected and more than 1,200 homes were damaged.
