Yongji County is one of the hardest-hit areas in Jilin Province. This amateur video footage shows how residents helped each other when floods hit their homes a week ago.

Neighborhood residents say the woman who missed the pole in the video is Liu Fenglan, a 61-year-old retired worker. Rapid currents separated Liu and her husband last Wednesday. The husband was rescued, and has been looking for his wife for days. And now, all hope is gone.

The man who stood at the window trying to rescue her is Lu Xu, a 25-year-old worker. He and his colleagues were moving stuff upstairs, when rising water was about to submerge the second floor.

Lu Xu said, "We saw someone struggling in the water. So we decided to stay and see how to help them."

He breaks down when talking about Liu Fenglan.

Lu said, "I actually reached her. But she probably had no strength. She looked back at me before the currents washed her away. I saw disappointment and sorrow in her eyes... But I could do nothing. I'm so sorry. It's really hard for me."

Lu Xu and his colleagues then saw a father and his son. But they didn't catch them, either.

Lu said, "I closed myself inside the room and cried. I couldn't help crying. You saw them floating away, further and further, but you could do nothing..."

Good news came later that the father and son were eventually rescued.

Lu Xu and his colleagues tied a piece of fire hose to the pole to make it easy to catch. That proved effective in the case of Wan Xiujiang.

Lu also said, "Wan was unable to walk for a while after we pulled him out. We put him in a chair. He threw up a lot of muddy water."

Wan Xiujiang later joined in rescue efforts himself. Lu Xu and his colleagues rescued another man in the afternoon. In building across the way, Xiao Pan recorded the process and uploaded the video to the Internet.

Both Lu Xu and Xiao Pan say they were touched by the scenes, and are hoping for good news for the missing ones.

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