Firefighters in flood-affected areas held babies and carefully carried the elderly to safety in Changsha City, central China's Hunan Province.

The city has been deluged with rain since the night of June 23. China's national observatory issued a red alert the next day, the highest on the country's warning system. With the level of water crossing the one-meter mark in some areas, many low-lying areas were submerged, trapping residents and vehicles.