September 3, 2024 — 15:42 local time

A tiny tabby kitten was rescued from a stack of wet cardboard packages inside a flooded postal sorting facility on the afternoon of September 3, after muddy floodwater spread across the sorting floor around the mail racks, carts and scattered parcels.

Bodycam footage recorded by the rescuer shows the small brown, black and white kitten crouched on top of a soaked parcel, its fur wet and spiky, its white paws gripping the cardboard and its wide eyes fixed on the camera. Around it, parcels floated in the brown water, metal mail racks stood half surrounded by the flood, and heavy rain was still falling beyond the glass entrance doors.

The rescuer, wearing a bright yellow waterproof rescue jacket, black tactical waterproof gloves, black rain pants and a black utility harness with silver carabiners, waded slowly through the water and raised both hands gently as he reached the stack of packages. The kitten turned its head, blinked and gave a soft meow, but stayed on the cardboard.

Moving carefully so as not to startle it, the rescuer placed one hand beneath the kitten’s chest and the other beneath its hindquarters, lifted it gently clear of the damp parcels, and drew it down to be held low and secure in both cupped hands, safely above the rising floodwater, with the flooded sorting floor still visible behind them.

The kitten appeared cold and frightened but unharmed, and was held safely in both hands to be carried to dry ground, where it could be warmed, dried and checked over.