Two men in Southern China are alive thanks to a daring rescue involving a hulking quadcopter drone.
Footage shared by Chinese state media Xinhua shows the moment a stranded flood victim is plucked from the top of an oil tanker by a drone in Guangxi, an autonomous region bordering Vietnam.
After being strapped into a harness by a brave rescue worker, the man is whisked from the tanker, holding onto the support lines for dear life as the drone carries him above the raging waters. As the brief clip shows, the flood reached about halfway up nearby transmission poles, and well beyond the first floor of nearby buildings.
Elsewhere in Guangxi, China’s CGTN reported emergency responders deployed telecomm drones in order to restore internet connection to flooded areas, allowing flood victims to connect to first responders and loved ones outside the disaster area.
Guangxi bore the brunt of typhoon Maysak, which ripped its way inland through China’s Southern coast. It left a trail of destruction in its wake, forcing over 130,000 to evacuate as rainfall totals reached as much as 35 inches over a few short days.
In one flooded village, rising waters even liberated hundreds of snakes from a breeding farm, which went on to terrify stranded disaster victims waiting for their own rescuers to arrive.
North of Guangxi in China’s Hubei province, a severe storm resulting from the typhoon created a monster tornado powerful enough to suck a man out of his 12th-story apartment, while unrelenting rain unleashed massive landslides across the western province of Gansu.
With China bracing for yet another massive typhoon, the country’s emergency response capacity is facing a major stress test — drones and all.
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