Trapped by Hurricane Harvey for 48 hours, these bakers worked to make bread for those in need

Bakery staff left stranded in their store by Hurricane Harvey put their time trapped inside to good use - baking all night to make bread to hand out to those in need.

The El Bolillo Bakery in Houston closed early as the hurricane approached on Saturday, with the shelves almost completely emptied by customers stocking up before the storm hit.

All but four members of staff were able to get home.

They used giant bags of flour as mattresses to get some sleep, but as the storm raged on, they decided to make the most of it and managed to completely restock the shelves.

They were trapped for a total of 48 hours, using some 4,200lbs of flour, to make loaves ready for when the doors could reopen.

Fortunately, the flood waters did not breach the store and they remained dry until bakery owner Brian Alvarado managed to get back again.

"They were desperate to get to their families and they couldn’t," he told The Washington Post.

"They had made so much bread. We were not expecting to come in here and see every single display case full of bread.”

He shared an image of three of the trapped bakers, along with the products of their labour, to the bakery's Facebook page - where it has since been shared more than 4,000 times.

All of the bread and other goodies made during the trio's 48-hour bakeathon has been delivered to local shelters in and around Houston, he added.