Firefighters and residents joined forces to successfully evacuate a stranded driver from raging floodwaters on Sunday night in Kuancheng Manchu Autonomous County, north China's Hebei Province, after heavy rains brought by Typhoon Bavi flooded local streets.
Around 21:00 on Sunday, local firefighters received an emergency call about a woman whose car had broken down in raging floodwaters. They rushed to the scene, and three firefighters, secured with safety ropes, carefully waded across the currents to reach the stranded vehicle.
By then, the upstream water was surging more violently, creating swift currents along the escape route. With debris constantly washing down from upstream, the situation grew increasingly dangerous, and evacuation could not be delayed a moment longer.
After securing the trapped woman in protective gear, the three firefighters linked arms and formed a human wall to shield her from the raging floodwaters, then carefully began their move toward safety. But just a few steps in, the lead firefighter was knocked off his feet and swept away by the powerful currents.
At that moment, residents on the opposite bank caught the firefighter who had been swept away and joined forces to pull the safety rope, helping the group escape the danger. In the end, the woman was successfully moved to safety.
Typhoon Bavi, the ninth typhoon of the year, made consecutive landfalls along the coast of east China's Zhejiang Province late Saturday before moving inland, bringing storms and floods to several eastern and northern provinces.
Firefighters, residents rescue stranded driver from floods in north China's Hebei
