On Tuesday, several cities in Henan province received their heaviest rainfall in decades. According to local records, between 4 pm and 5 pm, Henan's capital Zhengzhou received 201.9 millimeters of rain, compared with the previous record of 198.5 mm in 1975.

Some scientific accounts say Zhengzhou received 1.49 billion cubic meters of rainwater in that hour. Around 500 passengers were trapped in the city's subway Line 5,12 of whom died, while many more were trapped in street corners, hotels, atop cars and building roofs.

What Zhengzhou is facing is an unprecedented natural disaster. The Ministry of Emergency Management is rushing firefighters from seven neighboring provinces to carry out rescue work in Henan, and the People's Liberation Army has sent personnel to help with the relief and rescue operations.

Civilians, too, have risen to the occasion. On SinaWeibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, #Henan rescue# is trending with 3.18 billion posts by people seeking help and those reaching out to help. Many trained civilian rescue teams have reached Zhengzhou and are sharing their locations so that those in need of help can contact them.

Efforts by both the civilian and government rescue teams are helping the province cope with the disaster. It is tragic that 33 people had died and eight others were still missing on Thursday, but the arrival of help is giving everybody the confidence to cope with the tragedy.

The tragedy also underlines the importance of inculcating disaster-relief education among people. How to call for help during a flood and stay safe till help arrives are important lessons that people need to be taught.

Equally important is the knowledge about how to use social networking sites to share one's location if in need of help.

All this should be taught to children at school. It will not only empower them to help themselves during a disaster, but also encourage more people to join rescue teams and help others.