Scenes during record floods in central China | In Pics

In other areas of the city where the floodwaters had subsided, municipal workers started the clean-up, sweeping away tree branches and clearing up other debris like marooned bicycles and scooters.

As floodwaters began to recede, rescuers in the city of 12 million used digger trucks, inflatable boats and other makeshift rafts to transport some residents to dry land and deliver provisions to others in high-rise apartment blocks.

The death toll in central China's unprecedented flash floods triggered after the heaviest rainfall in 1,000 years has reached 33 with eight people missing, officials told PTI on Thursday.

Zhengzhou, the capital city of populous Henan province, has borne the brunt of extreme wet weather in central China this week, receiving the equivalent of a year's worth of rain in just a few days.

It also downed power supplies and stranded residents at home, in offices and on public transportation.

Chinese military personnel evacuate residents from a hospital where about 3,000 people were trapped by the flood in Zhengzhou in central China's Henan province on Thursday.

While the rains in Zhengzhou had eased to a light drizzle, other parts of Henan were still forecast to receive heavy rain on Friday, according to weather reports.