But here’s the important clarification: the photo showing a drone carrying two people is AI-generated. It’s simply too dangerous and physically impossible for current drones to safely lift two adults. Real rescues that happened involved lifting just one person, and only in truly life-or-death situations where someone was about to be swept away.
The real story took place on July 7 in Yunbiao Town. A truck driver was trapped on top of an oil tanker in the middle of the flood. A rescuer in an orange-red suit flew in on a drone, landed on the vehicle, and then both were lifted out together. The whole operation took less than 20 minutes.
This wasn’t some hobby drone from the park. It was a coordinated effort by ordinary pilots from across China who rushed to the disaster zone on their own.
1. An Old Dam Couldn’t Withstand the Storm
The disaster started with Typhoon Misaak. Between July 5–6, parts of Nanning and Guigang in Guangxi saw torrential to extremely heavy rain. Binyang County recorded 713 mm in 24 hours, and Shitang Town in Hengzhou saw 565 mm — basically a full year’s rainfall for many northern regions dumped in a single day.
On the morning of July 6, Liulan Reservoir in Hengzhou experienced overtopping. This 60-plus-year-old homogeneous earth dam (built in 1958–1960 by compacting soil) simply couldn’t hold back the water. Once water flowed over the top, it rapidly eroded the back side of the dam, and the structure gave way.
By July 9, the floods had caused 39 deaths and 9 people missing. Roads and bridges were destroyed. Even assault boats sometimes couldn’t reach the trapped areas because the current was too strong.
2. Drone Pilots Showed Up on Their Own — Hundreds of Aircraft
At this critical moment, a special group of people drove in from all over the country.
Pilots came from Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan, Guangdong, and even as far as Heilongjiang. They loaded their own drones and generators into their vehicles, paid for their own gas, food, and lodging, and asked for zero payment or subsidies. They just headed straight to Hengzhou.
Because everyone came spontaneously, exact numbers are hard to track, but reports mentioned WeChat groups with hundreds of members and several hundred drones operating on site.
By July 8, these drones had delivered more than 1,000 tons of relief supplies. At one distribution point in Dutian Village, five drones worked non-stop around the clock. In Yunbiao Town, single drones covered a 4–5 km radius, reaching multiple trapped villages.
They couldn’t always pull people out, but they could drop water, instant porridge, and instant noodles — giving trapped residents something to hold onto.
3. DJI Stepped Up: Free Repairs for All Rescue Damage
One of the most heartwarming details came on July 8. DJI Agriculture issued a notice: any plant-protection or cargo drone used in the Guangxi rescue that got water damage, crashed, or had parts broken during the operation would receive completely free repairs — no labor fees, no parts charges, no inspection costs.
Normally, water damage or crashes are not covered under warranty. But this time DJI said: just provide your flight logs from the rescue period and report the drone’s serial number, and authorized stores would handle it immediately. Local DJI stores even switched to 24-hour operation to service the pilots overnight.
For many pilots, a good drone plus accessories and a vehicle can cost 200,000–300,000 RMB. DJI’s policy removed the biggest financial fear — “what if I crash my expensive machine?” — and gave them the confidence to go all in.
4. These Aren’t Toy Drones — They’re Serious Work Machines
The drones used in the rescue are very different from the small consumer drones people fly in parks for fun.
These are professional plant-protection drones and cargo drones.
- Plant-protection drones (T series):
Built for agriculture — spraying pesticides and spreading fertilizer. The common T200 model can carry dozens of kilograms per flight. - Cargo drones (FlyCart series):
Designed specifically for lifting and transporting goods. The FC200 can lift up to 200 kg by itself, and multiple units can work together to lift 600 kg. - Hybrid VTOL / compound-wing drones:
These take off and land vertically like a multi-rotor drone but fly long distances like a fixed-wing aircraft. Some were used in the disaster zone as temporary flying 4G/5G base stations to restore mobile signals.
These machines normally work in farmland. This time they went straight into emergency rescue.
5. China’s Drone Industry Grew 100× in Just Ten Years
Most people don’t realize how big this industry has become.
Around 2015, DJI’s agricultural drone shipments were only about 2,000 units per year. By 2020 it reached 40,000 units. In 2025 it hit 200,000 units annually. In just ten years, yearly sales grew roughly 100 times.
By 2025, China had around 500,000 of these agricultural and cargo drones operating nationwide. They covered more than 3.2 billion mu (about 213 million hectares) of farmland in a single year. Roughly one-third of China’s cultivated land now relies on drones for pesticide application.
DJI holds about 55% of the domestic plant-protection drone market and around 59% globally. These drones are now used in over 100 countries, with especially fast growth in places like Brazil and Mexico.
6. A Brand-New “Atomized” Job: The Agricultural Version of Didi
This is an entirely new type of work.
Most pilots are independent individuals or very small teams — no big company, no boss, no formal employment. They connect loosely through WeChat groups and order platforms (one popular one is called “Nongtian Guanjia” or Farmland Steward — basically the agricultural version of Didi). Farmers place orders on an app for spraying or transport, and the platform assigns the job to the nearest qualified pilot.
Pilots must hold a CAAC drone pilot license issued by China’s Civil Aviation Administration. There are three levels: Visual Line of Sight operator, Beyond Visual Line of Sight Captain (the main one used for real work), and Instructor. Getting certified costs money — roughly 4,000+ RMB for the basic license and 8,000–12,000 RMB for the captain level.
A complete setup (drone + vehicle + fuel generator + chargers) usually costs 200,000–300,000 RMB. Many pilots took loans to buy their equipment.
Earnings: Spraying pesticide typically pays about 20 RMB per mu. For cargo lifting, a drone can move around 10 tons in a good day, generating roughly 2,400 RMB in gross revenue before fuel (~300 RMB) and helper labor (~300 RMB). Net daily income can reach over 1,000 RMB under good conditions. It’s real work, though — weather, order volume, and equipment wear all matter. Most pilots say they can break even in about two years, but the market is gradually becoming more competitive, similar to what happened with ride-hailing.
These pilots are also very good at shooting and editing videos. They post daily on Douyin (Chinese TikTok), which helps them promote their services and sometimes recruit students.
7. Why Did Drones Stand Out So Much This Time?
Professional rescue teams, government, and military are still the main force in disaster response. So why did the drones get so much attention?
Two main reasons:
First, the pilots are naturally skilled at content creation. Drone footage has great visual angles, and the videos look dramatic and hopeful — perfect for going viral.
Second, after a disaster, people need both facts and hope. The drone pilots delivered positive, concrete stories of technology and ordinary people taking action, which felt especially valuable when everything else felt heavy.
8. The Truly Moving Part
When you connect all the pieces: a group of young people who returned to rural areas to make a living spent 200,000–300,000 RMB (often with loans) on drone equipment. On normal days they post videos, take orders, spray fields, and transport fruit — basically running a small business one job at a time.
They are scattered, independent operators. Then the flood hit. These strangers, with no central organization, used just their phones and a few WeChat groups to gather into a fleet of over a hundred drones within two or three days.
No one was directing a grand plan from above. There was no strict hierarchy. It was simply the kindness of ordinary individuals combined with China’s world-leading drone technology and existing digital platforms that allowed them to connect and act so quickly.
In the past, we often assumed that big things require big, tightly organized systems with top-down commands. What we saw here was something different: countless independent people, normally connected loosely through social media and service platforms, suddenly becoming a capable rescue force when it mattered most.
The organization was loose. The hearts were kind. Technology did something remarkable — not just lifting a person out of danger, but amplifying and connecting the goodwill of thousands of ordinary people for the first time.
Life has to go on. Stories like this remind us that even in difficult moments, there are more sources of warmth and possibility than we sometimes realize.
【Quick Knowledge Supplement】
-
Homogeneous earth dam:
A type of dam built by compacting layers of soil. It relies on the density of the packed earth to hold back water. The 60-year-old dam mentioned in the story was this kind and failed when water overtopped it during extreme flooding. -
Overtopping:
When water in a reservoir rises above the top of the dam and flows over it, eroding the back side until the structure collapses. This was the direct cause of the flood disaster in the story. -
Plant-protection drone (agricultural spraying drone):
A professional drone designed for farming work such as spraying pesticides or spreading fertilizer. Much larger and more powerful than recreational drones, it can carry dozens of kilograms. These were the main machines used by the pilots for both spraying and delivering supplies. -
Cargo drone (FlyCart series):
DJI’s specialized transport drones built for lifting and moving heavy goods. The FC200 model can lift up to 200 kg by itself and supports multi-drone coordinated lifts. They were used to deliver food, water, and even rescue personnel in the flood zone. -
Hybrid VTOL / compound-wing drone:
A drone that takes off and lands vertically like a multi-rotor but flies long distances like a traditional airplane. Some were flown above the disaster area as temporary flying mobile base stations to restore 4G/5G signals. -
CAAC Drone Pilot License:
Official certification from China’s Civil Aviation Administration. It has three levels — Visual Line of Sight operator, Beyond Visual Line of Sight Captain (the main working license), and Instructor. Pilots must be licensed to operate legally and safely. -
Atomized workforce / industry:
A decentralized work model where most people are independent operators or tiny teams with no fixed employer or company structure. They connect and get jobs through WeChat groups and digital platforms. Similar to food-delivery riders or ride-hailing drivers. The drone pilots in this story are a clear example — they could gather quickly because they were already loosely connected.
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