Heavy rain leaves 30 dead in Chinese capital
Intense rainstorms have pummelled swathes of northern China this week, including the capital and the provinces of Hebei, Jilin and Shandong.
As of midnight Monday, "the latest round of heavy rainstorms has left 30 people dead in Beijing", state news agency Xinhua said, citing the city's municipal flood control headquarters.
Over 80,000 people have been evacuated in the Chinese capital alone, local state-run outlet Beijing Daily said on social media.
It added that "continuous extreme heavy rainfall caused major disasters".
The death toll was highest in Miyun, a suburban district northeast of the city centre, it said.
Also badly affected were Huairou district in the north of the city and Fangshan in the southwest, state media said.
Dozens of roads have been closed and over 130 villages have lost electricity, Beijing Daily said.
"Please pay attention to weather forecasts and warnings and do not go to risk areas unless necessary," the outlet said.
In Miyun, a resident surnamed Liu said he watched floodwater sweep away vehicles outside his apartment block early Monday morning.
AFP journalists there saw a crawler lift people and a dog to safety as rescuers waded through water up to their knees.
Nearby, in the town of Mujiayu, AFP journalists saw a reservoir release a torrent of water.
Power lines were swept away by muddy currents while military vehicles and ambulances ploughed flooded streets.
Firefighters also rescued 48 people trapped in an elderly care centre, CCTV reported.
- 'All-out efforts' -
Chinese President Xi Jinping urged authorities late Monday to plan for worst-case scenarios and rush the relocation of residents of flood-threatened areas.
Beijing Daily said local officials had "made all-out efforts to search and rescue missing persons... and made every effort to reduce casualties".
The government has allocated 350 million yuan (USD$49 million) for disaster relief in nine regions hit by heavy rains, state broadcaster CCTV said Tuesday.
They include northern Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, northeastern Jilin, eastern Shandong and southern Guangdong.
A separate 200 million yuan has been set aside for the capital, the broadcaster said.
In Hebei province, which encircles the capital, a landslide in a village near the city of Chengde killed four people, with eight still missing, CCTV reported Monday.
Local authorities have issued flash flood warnings through Tuesday evening, with Chengde and surrounding areas under the highest level alert, Hebei's radio and television station said.
In 2023, heavy rain killed over 80 people across northern and northeastern China, including at least 29 people in Hebei where severe flooding destroyed homes and crop fields.
Some reports at the time suggested the province shouldered the burden of a government decision to divert the deluge away from the capital.
Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer when some regions experience heavy rain while others bake in searing heat.
China is the world's biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that scientists say drive climate change and contribute to making extreme weather more frequent and intense.
But it is also a global renewable energy powerhouse that aims to make its massive economy carbon-neutral by 2060.
Flash floods in the eastern Shandong province killed two people and left 10 missing this month.
A landslide on a highway in Sichuan province this month also killed five people after it swept several cars down a mountainside.
bur-oho-mya/je/tym
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Australian
6 hours ago
- The Australian
NSW lashed by rain and snow in bout of wild weather
Heavy rain is set to hammer New South Wales this weekend as snow blanketed regions not usually known for icy conditions. A low pressure system brought heavy rain to a large swathe of the state and led the Bureau of Meteorology to issue a string of warnings about potentially dangerous weather. There was heavy rainfall across the Hunter Region and Mid North Coast on Saturday. 'It has been a cold and wet week across New South Wales, with showers and rain pushing onto the east coast in particular,' BOM meteorologist Helen Reid said. 'The rain and the wind is expected to peak (on Saturday) with the Mid North Coast, the Upper Hunter and parts of the Northern Tablelands likely to get the heaviest falls.' Heavy rain is set to batter New South Wales on Saturday. Picture: Sky News A severe weather warning is in place for parts of the Upper Hunter, Mid North Coast, Northern Tablelands and the North West slopes and plains for heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding and damaging wind gusts in excess of 90 kilometres an hour. The bureau has also issued a flood watch from Coffs Harbour to Newcastle, stretching inland, warning of possible minor to moderate flooding. Many catchments in those areas are still wet due to heavy rain in the last few months. There is also a flood warning in place for the Peel River at Tamworth. 'Moderate to heavy rainfall has been observed in the catchment of the Peel River during Saturday,' the bureau's warning said. 'River level rises are occurring along the upper reaches of the Peel River and its tributaries, with levels at Tamworth currently near the minor flood level (3.0 metres). 'The Peel River at Tamworth is expected to exceed the moderate flood level late Saturday evening, with further rises likely overnight due to forecast rainfall.' The heavy rainfall also caused public transport chaos in the Hunter. On Saturday, trains were not running on the Hunter Line between Scone, Dungog and Newcastle due to flooding at Sandgate. The NSW SES responded to reports of people being stuck in snow. Picture: Supplied/SES. The SES said it was seeing snow in places not usually associated with the conditions. Picture: Supplied/SES. Meanwhile, parts of NSW were blanketed by snow on Saturday. Including some regions which the SES said it was unusual to see snow. Up to 50mm fell in some areas in the Northern Tablelands region. The SES reported heavy falls in Walcha, Uralla, Ebor, Armidale, Guyra, Glen Innes and Moonbi Ranges. It responded to over 100 reports of cars being stuck on the New England Highway, Waterfall Way, Norris Drive and Grafton Road. The severe weather is expected to ease from Sunday. Picture: BOM Meanwhile, parts of Queensland will also be hit with strong winds extending to all coasts between the Queensland border and the Illawarra on Sunday. A separate cold front is also forecast in Western Australia bringing rain, thunderstorms and hail. A severe weather warning for damaging winds and heavy rainfall is in place for areas around Perth, Bunbury and Albany. Darwin is set to be warm and sunny reaching 31C, while Brisbane is expecting showers and sunny spells, reaching 19C. Canberra will be cool with a top of 13C with patchy drizzle. Melbourne and Hobart are expecting to stay overcast with some sun and highs of 15C and 14C respectively. Adelaide should see some sun, reaching a high of 14C. Read related topics: Weather
The Advertiser
11 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Fatal floods keeping Beijing on edge as more rain looms
People living in Beijing's mountainous suburbs have been warned to brace for another round of heavy rain, a week after catastrophic floods killed dozens in the deadliest deluge to hit the Chinese capital since 2012. Up to 200mm of rain could hit parts of Beijing over a six-hour period from midday, weather forecasters warned on Monday. The city of 22 million people receives on average 600mm of rainfall each year. The alert comes as authorities rush to reinforce ageing flood defences, fine-tune weather forecasts and update evacuation plans amid reports of bodies being pulled from raging flood waters across the country, including at least three at a flooded wellness camp in Hebei province. Late last month, at least 44 people died in Beijing after days of heavy rains. Most of the dead were unexpectedly trapped by rapidly rising waters at a nursing home in Miyun district on the city's northeastern outskirts. The fatalities led authorities to admit to shortcomings in their contingency plans for extreme weather. On Monday, Beijing had seven of its 16 districts on the highest level of preparedness for flood prevention - Mentougou, Fangshan, Fengtai, Shijingshan, Huairou, Miyun and Yanqing - most of which lie in mountainous areas to the west and north of the city. The risk of flash floods and landslides is "extremely high", authorities said. In the summer of 2012, 79 people died in Beijing in the city's deadliest flooding in living memory. Fangshan district was the worst-hit, with one resident reporting a rise in floodwaters of 1.3 metres in just 10 minutes. Beijing's topography has been described by some as a rain "trap", with its mountains to the west and north capturing moist air and amplifying any ensuing rainfall as a result. As of Saturday, torrential rains that swept through "Beijing Valley", a riverside wellness retreat in the Hebei city of Chengde adjacent to Beijing, had claimed three lives, with four still missing, China's state news agency Xinhua reported. Around 40 people had gathered on July 27 for an event at the site, where organisers directed them into tents pitched on low-lying land next to a river bend, Caixin Media reported. By 2am the next morning, floodwaters had risen to knee height, forcing attendees to scramble towards the camp's only exit. The site bore similarities to Camp Mystic in Texas, where at least 28 children were swept to their deaths last month by floodwaters after the Guadalupe River burst its banks amid torrential rain. In China's southern Guangdong province over the weekend, the bodies of five people were recovered after a large-scale search operation involving more than 1300 rescuers. The five people, who went missing on Friday night, were "swept away by water" following heavy rainfall in recent days, Xinhua reported. People living in Beijing's mountainous suburbs have been warned to brace for another round of heavy rain, a week after catastrophic floods killed dozens in the deadliest deluge to hit the Chinese capital since 2012. Up to 200mm of rain could hit parts of Beijing over a six-hour period from midday, weather forecasters warned on Monday. The city of 22 million people receives on average 600mm of rainfall each year. The alert comes as authorities rush to reinforce ageing flood defences, fine-tune weather forecasts and update evacuation plans amid reports of bodies being pulled from raging flood waters across the country, including at least three at a flooded wellness camp in Hebei province. Late last month, at least 44 people died in Beijing after days of heavy rains. Most of the dead were unexpectedly trapped by rapidly rising waters at a nursing home in Miyun district on the city's northeastern outskirts. The fatalities led authorities to admit to shortcomings in their contingency plans for extreme weather. On Monday, Beijing had seven of its 16 districts on the highest level of preparedness for flood prevention - Mentougou, Fangshan, Fengtai, Shijingshan, Huairou, Miyun and Yanqing - most of which lie in mountainous areas to the west and north of the city. The risk of flash floods and landslides is "extremely high", authorities said. In the summer of 2012, 79 people died in Beijing in the city's deadliest flooding in living memory. Fangshan district was the worst-hit, with one resident reporting a rise in floodwaters of 1.3 metres in just 10 minutes. Beijing's topography has been described by some as a rain "trap", with its mountains to the west and north capturing moist air and amplifying any ensuing rainfall as a result. As of Saturday, torrential rains that swept through "Beijing Valley", a riverside wellness retreat in the Hebei city of Chengde adjacent to Beijing, had claimed three lives, with four still missing, China's state news agency Xinhua reported. Around 40 people had gathered on July 27 for an event at the site, where organisers directed them into tents pitched on low-lying land next to a river bend, Caixin Media reported. By 2am the next morning, floodwaters had risen to knee height, forcing attendees to scramble towards the camp's only exit. The site bore similarities to Camp Mystic in Texas, where at least 28 children were swept to their deaths last month by floodwaters after the Guadalupe River burst its banks amid torrential rain. In China's southern Guangdong province over the weekend, the bodies of five people were recovered after a large-scale search operation involving more than 1300 rescuers. The five people, who went missing on Friday night, were "swept away by water" following heavy rainfall in recent days, Xinhua reported. People living in Beijing's mountainous suburbs have been warned to brace for another round of heavy rain, a week after catastrophic floods killed dozens in the deadliest deluge to hit the Chinese capital since 2012. Up to 200mm of rain could hit parts of Beijing over a six-hour period from midday, weather forecasters warned on Monday. The city of 22 million people receives on average 600mm of rainfall each year. The alert comes as authorities rush to reinforce ageing flood defences, fine-tune weather forecasts and update evacuation plans amid reports of bodies being pulled from raging flood waters across the country, including at least three at a flooded wellness camp in Hebei province. Late last month, at least 44 people died in Beijing after days of heavy rains. Most of the dead were unexpectedly trapped by rapidly rising waters at a nursing home in Miyun district on the city's northeastern outskirts. The fatalities led authorities to admit to shortcomings in their contingency plans for extreme weather. On Monday, Beijing had seven of its 16 districts on the highest level of preparedness for flood prevention - Mentougou, Fangshan, Fengtai, Shijingshan, Huairou, Miyun and Yanqing - most of which lie in mountainous areas to the west and north of the city. The risk of flash floods and landslides is "extremely high", authorities said. In the summer of 2012, 79 people died in Beijing in the city's deadliest flooding in living memory. Fangshan district was the worst-hit, with one resident reporting a rise in floodwaters of 1.3 metres in just 10 minutes. Beijing's topography has been described by some as a rain "trap", with its mountains to the west and north capturing moist air and amplifying any ensuing rainfall as a result. As of Saturday, torrential rains that swept through "Beijing Valley", a riverside wellness retreat in the Hebei city of Chengde adjacent to Beijing, had claimed three lives, with four still missing, China's state news agency Xinhua reported. Around 40 people had gathered on July 27 for an event at the site, where organisers directed them into tents pitched on low-lying land next to a river bend, Caixin Media reported. By 2am the next morning, floodwaters had risen to knee height, forcing attendees to scramble towards the camp's only exit. The site bore similarities to Camp Mystic in Texas, where at least 28 children were swept to their deaths last month by floodwaters after the Guadalupe River burst its banks amid torrential rain. In China's southern Guangdong province over the weekend, the bodies of five people were recovered after a large-scale search operation involving more than 1300 rescuers. The five people, who went missing on Friday night, were "swept away by water" following heavy rainfall in recent days, Xinhua reported. People living in Beijing's mountainous suburbs have been warned to brace for another round of heavy rain, a week after catastrophic floods killed dozens in the deadliest deluge to hit the Chinese capital since 2012. Up to 200mm of rain could hit parts of Beijing over a six-hour period from midday, weather forecasters warned on Monday. The city of 22 million people receives on average 600mm of rainfall each year. The alert comes as authorities rush to reinforce ageing flood defences, fine-tune weather forecasts and update evacuation plans amid reports of bodies being pulled from raging flood waters across the country, including at least three at a flooded wellness camp in Hebei province. Late last month, at least 44 people died in Beijing after days of heavy rains. Most of the dead were unexpectedly trapped by rapidly rising waters at a nursing home in Miyun district on the city's northeastern outskirts. The fatalities led authorities to admit to shortcomings in their contingency plans for extreme weather. On Monday, Beijing had seven of its 16 districts on the highest level of preparedness for flood prevention - Mentougou, Fangshan, Fengtai, Shijingshan, Huairou, Miyun and Yanqing - most of which lie in mountainous areas to the west and north of the city. The risk of flash floods and landslides is "extremely high", authorities said. In the summer of 2012, 79 people died in Beijing in the city's deadliest flooding in living memory. Fangshan district was the worst-hit, with one resident reporting a rise in floodwaters of 1.3 metres in just 10 minutes. Beijing's topography has been described by some as a rain "trap", with its mountains to the west and north capturing moist air and amplifying any ensuing rainfall as a result. As of Saturday, torrential rains that swept through "Beijing Valley", a riverside wellness retreat in the Hebei city of Chengde adjacent to Beijing, had claimed three lives, with four still missing, China's state news agency Xinhua reported. Around 40 people had gathered on July 27 for an event at the site, where organisers directed them into tents pitched on low-lying land next to a river bend, Caixin Media reported. By 2am the next morning, floodwaters had risen to knee height, forcing attendees to scramble towards the camp's only exit. The site bore similarities to Camp Mystic in Texas, where at least 28 children were swept to their deaths last month by floodwaters after the Guadalupe River burst its banks amid torrential rain. In China's southern Guangdong province over the weekend, the bodies of five people were recovered after a large-scale search operation involving more than 1300 rescuers. The five people, who went missing on Friday night, were "swept away by water" following heavy rainfall in recent days, Xinhua reported.
Perth Now
13 hours ago
- Perth Now
Fatal floods keeping Beijing on edge as more rain looms
People living in Beijing's mountainous suburbs have been warned to brace for another round of heavy rain, a week after catastrophic floods killed dozens in the deadliest deluge to hit the Chinese capital since 2012. Up to 200mm of rain could hit parts of Beijing over a six-hour period from midday, weather forecasters warned on Monday. The city of 22 million people receives on average 600mm of rainfall each year. The alert comes as authorities rush to reinforce ageing flood defences, fine-tune weather forecasts and update evacuation plans amid reports of bodies being pulled from raging flood waters across the country, including at least three at a flooded wellness camp in Hebei province. Late last month, at least 44 people died in Beijing after days of heavy rains. Most of the dead were unexpectedly trapped by rapidly rising waters at a nursing home in Miyun district on the city's northeastern outskirts. The fatalities led authorities to admit to shortcomings in their contingency plans for extreme weather. On Monday, Beijing had seven of its 16 districts on the highest level of preparedness for flood prevention - Mentougou, Fangshan, Fengtai, Shijingshan, Huairou, Miyun and Yanqing - most of which lie in mountainous areas to the west and north of the city. The risk of flash floods and landslides is "extremely high", authorities said. In the summer of 2012, 79 people died in Beijing in the city's deadliest flooding in living memory. Fangshan district was the worst-hit, with one resident reporting a rise in floodwaters of 1.3 metres in just 10 minutes. Beijing's topography has been described by some as a rain "trap", with its mountains to the west and north capturing moist air and amplifying any ensuing rainfall as a result. As of Saturday, torrential rains that swept through "Beijing Valley", a riverside wellness retreat in the Hebei city of Chengde adjacent to Beijing, had claimed three lives, with four still missing, China's state news agency Xinhua reported. Around 40 people had gathered on July 27 for an event at the site, where organisers directed them into tents pitched on low-lying land next to a river bend, Caixin Media reported. By 2am the next morning, floodwaters had risen to knee height, forcing attendees to scramble towards the camp's only exit. The site bore similarities to Camp Mystic in Texas, where at least 28 children were swept to their deaths last month by floodwaters after the Guadalupe River burst its banks amid torrential rain. In China's southern Guangdong province over the weekend, the bodies of five people were recovered after a large-scale search operation involving more than 1300 rescuers. The five people, who went missing on Friday night, were "swept away by water" following heavy rainfall in recent days, Xinhua reported.
