- Heavy floods in Guangxi, China caused 39 deaths and affected 400,000 residents
- Qinzhou city received over 800 mm of rainfall from July 3 to 6 during the floods
- A man named Xie swam three hours holding a tyre to reach his flooded parents' village
Heavy floods in southern China have left many families struggling to stay safe. In one such incident, a man risked his own life by swimming through floodwaters for hours to check on his parents after losing contact with them, reported the South China Morning Post.
The floods in China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, caused by torrential rains and a number of dam collapses, have reportedly left 39 people dead and affected nearly 400,000 residents.
On July 6, a 30-year-old man surnamed Xie swam for three hours while holding onto a tyre to reach his parents' village in Qinzhou. A friend accompanied him on the journey. Xie and his two siblings live in town, while their parents live in a village about 10 kilometres away.
The previous night, Xie's mother had called him to say that his father had gone to secure the rice he had harvested earlier but had not returned. She was worried about him. By then, the village had already been flooded, with houses submerged up to the first floor. Rising floodwaters also caused power failures, leading to interrupted mobile signals.
After he was unable to contact his parents, Xie said he could not sleep all night because he was worried that his 63-year-old father might have been swept away by the flood.
Xie's family owns two houses in the village. One house on a mountain remained safe from the flood, but the other, where the harvested rice was stored, was submerged. His father had planned to move the rice to the first floor.
For the journey, Xie and his friend bought two new truck tyres from a shop in town. They spent one hour swimming the final kilometre before reaching his parents' home.
When they arrived, they found that the rapidly rising floodwaters had trapped Xie's father on the upper floor of the house. Xie said his father smiled when he saw him, but he immediately scolded him, saying he was risking his life for some rice.
Xie then guided his father along a narrow path behind their house, and they slowly walked back to the mountain house. When his mother saw him completely soaked, she burst into tears and strongly admonished him.
After making sure his parents were safe, Xie returned to the city later that day. The journey back required another two hours of swimming.
