Liu Hongbo tries to help a shopkeeper when severe rainstorm hits Zhangguying county in Yueyang, Hunan province, Aug 12, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A shopkeeper was swept from her shoe store while trying to prevent stock from being washed away.

Seeing the woman being dragged from her shop, a man, Liu Hongbo, jumped into the rapidly flowing floodwaters to help the woman.

Liu tied her to a steel pipe using rope, but as the rope was not long enough for them both, he had to clutch onto the pipe.

After about 10 minutes, a truck arrived to rescue them. "If I didn't help her, I would have felt guilty," Liu said after the incident.

Zhang Yi contributed to this story.