Aug. 4, 2021 -- From July 17 to 22, central China's Henan Province was lashed by heavy rain.

 

As of Thursday noon, 99 people have been killed with more than 13.6 million people affected.

 

In the face of disaster, some ordinary people stand out to offer a helping hand by putting their own lives at risk.

 

Hou Wenchao is one of them.

 

Hou was driving on an expressway in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan, on July 20 while torrential rains flooding a tunnel on the road in a dozen minutes, trapping many vehicles and people.

 

Hou left his car when the water level in the tunnel reached the lower edge of his car door.

 

On his way out he kept persuading others to leave the tunnel before it is too late.

 

Hou's persuasion saved dozens of trapped car passengers.

 

On July 20 afternoon, water had gushed into stations of metro line 5 in Zhengzhou and left more than 500 passengers in waist-high floods.

 

Li Yinghao, an ICU nurse at Henan Provincial People's Hospital, was among the trapped.

 

He soaked in water for some 40 minutes to help fellow passengers climb onto the platform.

 

Also on July 20, when Yu Yang, a community worker in Zhengzhou, found someone trapped in the water, he immediately rushed to their rescue.

 

China has sent about 46,000 personnel from the People's Liberation Army and the People's Armed Police Force, as well as about 61,000 volunteers, to Henan for flood control and emergency rescue.

 

The Ministry of Emergency Management has also dispatched about 4,000 fire and rescue personnel from 12 provinces to Henan.

 

China has earmarked 3 billion yuan (462 million U.S. dollars) from the central financial reserve to support post-disaster recovery and reconstruction work.