Intense rains lash China as landslide kills four
Forty-one rivers across the country have flooded, state broadcaster CCTV said, citing China's Ministry of Water Resources. The ministry said it had issued flood warnings for small and midsize rivers and mountain torrents.
Heavy rains intensified around Beijing and surrounding provinces on Monday, including those in central China such as Hunan and northern Inner Mongolia. Four people died in a landslide in northern Hebei and eight people were missing.
The recent floods and disasters have resulted in "significant casualties and property losses" in places such as Beijing and provinces of Hebei, Jilin and Shandong, Xi said, according to state news agency Xinhua.
In Beijing's northern districts, at least 10,464 people were relocated as floodwater discharged from a reservoir in Miyun passed through Huairou, local authorities said in a social media post.
The maximum flood peak flow into the Miyun reservoir had reached a record high of 6,550 cubic metres per second over the weekend, authorities said.
Earlier on Monday, more than 4,400 villagers in Miyun had been resettled after flash floods and landslides, CCTV reported.
At an elderly care centre, some people were trapped as water levels rose close to the roof, the broadcaster said. Emergency rescue services swam into the building and used ropes to rescue 48 people.
Images circulated on China's WeChat app showed areas of Miyun where cars and trucks were floating on a flooded road where water levels had risen so high that part of a residential building was submerged.
Electricity cuts were also affecting more than 10,000 people, in the area, CCTV said.
Northern China has seen record precipitation in recent years, exposing densely populated cities, including Beijing, to flood risks. Some scientists link the increased rainfall in China's usually arid north to global warming.
China's Central Meteorological Observatory said that heavy rainfall would continue to drench northern China over the next three days.
Hebei, hit hard by widespread flooding two years ago, raised its emergency response level to the second-highest on Monday as disaster risks mount.
Beijing issued its highest-level flood alert, and its meteorological observatory said rain would intensify, particularly in the second half of the night. Most areas of the city would have more than 150 mm of rainfall in six hours and some areas could reach more than 300 mm, it added.
The storms are part of the broader pattern of extreme weather across China due to the East Asian monsoon, which has caused disruptions in the world's second-largest economy.
In Shanxi province, videos from state media showed roads inundated by gushing currents of water and submerged vegetation including crops and trees.
Shaanxi, home to China's historic city of Xian, also issued flash flood disaster risk warnings on Monday.
Authorities are carrying out search and rescue work across cities including Datong, where a driver in a Ford car lost contact while driving in the floods, the People's Daily reported.
Two people were killed and two missing in Hebei province, CCTV said on Sunday morning. Overnight rain dumped a record 145 mm (5.7 inches) per hour on Fuping in the industrial city of Baoding, southwest of the capital.
In Hunan's Liudiequan grand canyon in Chunkou town, water rose so rapidly on Sunday that a tourist was swept away, CCTV said.
China's National Development and Reform Commission said on Monday that it was urgently arranging 50 million yuan ($7 million) to support Hebei.
The funds would be used to repair damaged roads and bridges, water conservancy embankments, schools and hospitals in the disaster area. The NDRC said it was "promoting the restoration of normal life and production as soon as possible."
Chinese authorities closely monitor extreme rainfall and severe flooding as they challenge the country's ageing flood defences, threaten to displace millions and wreak havoc on China's $2.8 trillion agricultural sector.
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