He Xinmao was filming people reinforcing a dam in Pingjiang county, Hunan province on Monday afternoon when it became clear that something terrible was about to happen.

"I quickly returned to a safe place," he said. "After a while, the water spilled over the top of the dam and flooded everywhere."

The Pingjiang Multi-media Center, where he works as a cameraman, was also flooded and his colleagues had to wait to be rescued, he said.

The county raised its flood response to the highest level on Monday night, as local authorities and residents battled historic rainfall and runoff.

The Pingjiang hydrological station on the Miluo River recorded water levels of 77.67 meters at 0:30 am on Tuesday, which is 3.67 m above the highest warning level. It was the highest water level recorded since 1954, according to the local Party publicity department. The levels increased by 9.5 m within 48 hours, and two sections of the dam had water running over the top.

The flood in Pingjiang has affected 340,000 people, and more than 2,600 sections of roads and bridges have been damaged, according to China National Radio News.

Meanwhile, the heavy rainfall has worsened flooding in the county, with water as deep as three meters, according to Yueyang Evening News.

Pingjiang county has recorded 759.6 millimeters of rainfall since June 18, the most since record-keeping began in 1961. According to Liu Hongwu, chief weather forecaster at the Hunan Meteorological Center, the accumulated rainfall in Pingjiang reached around 300 mm in just eight hours early on Monday, which is rare.

Floodwaters reached the fourth floor of his residential community, and luckily he and his family had booked a hotel room as local governments had issued repeated warnings, he said.

"I am scared when I think of filming at the dam now, but back then, I was working and did not think much," he said.

People were reassured when they saw local authorities, firefighters and members of the People's Armed Police come to the rescue, he added.

Li Manliang, who works for Malawangzi, a spicy gluten strip snack manufacturer in the county, said it had stopped production as there was no electricity, water and gas.

Many of the company's employees had water rushing into their homes, but the factory is at a higher elevation, so it avoided flooding, he said.

"I have never seen such heavy rain and flooding, and many of us were worried and did not sleep much on Monday," he said.

Local authorities in Pingjiang have asked all members of society to mobilize for flood prevention and rescue work. More than 10,000 Party members and government officials are working on the front lines, and social groups from various places have also joined the fight.

Pingjiang county sent 166 professional rescue teams and 1,695 pieces of equipment to help rescue and transfer 15,539 people.

In the city of Miluo, on the lower reaches of the Miluo River, local authorities also raised flood prevention to the highest level and made great efforts to ensure the safety of dams and dikes.

According to the Hunan Meteorological Center, from June 16 to Monday, the province recorded average rainfall of 257 mm — 120 percent higher than average and the second highest since 1961.

Since June 16, 75 stations at 28 rivers in Hunan have seen water levels exceeding warning levels, and 270,000 people have been transferred to safe locations.

The rain is expected to stop on Wednesday and most parts of the province are expected to have sunny days from Thursday.

According to the National Meteorological Center, multiple major rivers, including the Yangtze River and Yellow River, are likely to witness major floods this month. A total of 471 small and medium-sized rivers in the country have seen flooding in the current flood season, double the average number for this time of the year.