Death toll rises in China's north following extreme rain, state media says
The deaths occurred in villages within the Xinglong area of Chengde in Hebei province, state-run Xinhua reported late on Wednesday citing local authorities, without specifying when or how the people died.
Work is still underway to locate those missing, Xinhua said.
Set against mountainous terrain, Chengde was known as a resort town for Qing dynasty emperors to escape Beijing's heat in the summer centuries ago.
Extreme rains that began last Wednesday have lashed Beijing and surrounding regions, pouring a year's worth of rain in less than a week in some areas and killing at least 30 in the outskirts of the capital. Twenty eight of those deaths occurred in hilly Miyun district.
The deaths in Chengde occurred in villages which border Miyun and sit about 25 km (16 miles) away from the Miyun reservoir, the largest in China's north.
The reservoir saw record-breaking inflow and outflow of water, and overall water level and capacity during this round of rainfall which devastated nearby towns.
At its peak on Sunday, up to 6,550 cubic metres of water - about 2.5 Olympic-sized pools - flooded into the reservoir every second, pushing its capacity to a record high of 3.63 billion cubic metres since it was built in 1960.
The villages where eight have died sit on higher elevations in a valley, upstream of the Miyun reservoir.
In another village to the north of the reservoir, a landslide on Monday killed eight people while four remained missing.
Extreme rainfall and severe flooding, which meteorologists link to climate change, increasingly pose major challenges for Chinese policymakers, with officials partially attributing a slowdown in factory activities to heavy rains and flooding.
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BBC News
18 hours ago
- BBC News
Why glaciers are threatening to wipe out more mountain villages
In a small village in Switzerland's beautiful Loetschental valley, Matthias Bellwald walks down the main street and is greeted every few steps by locals who smile or offer a handshake or friendly Bellwald is a mayor, but this isn't his village. Two months ago his home, three miles away in Blatten, was wiped off the map when part of the mountain and glacier collapsed into the village's 300 residents had been evacuated days earlier, after geologists warned that the mountain was increasingly unstable. But they lost their homes, their church, their hotels and their Kalbermatten also lost the hotel that had been in his family for three generations."The feeling of the village, all the small alleys through the houses, the church, the memories you had when you played there as a child… all this is gone." Today, he is living in borrowed accommodation in the village of Wiler. Mr Bellwald has a temporary office there too, where he is supervising the massive clean-up operation - and the good news is, he believes the site can be cleared by 2028, with the first new houses ready by 2029. But it comes with a hefty Blatten is estimated to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, perhaps as much as $1 million (USD) per contributions from the public quickly raised millions of Swiss francs to help those who had lost their homes. The federal government and the canton promised financial support too. But some in Switzerland are asking: is it worth it? Though the disaster shocked Switzerland, some two thirds of the country is mountainous, and climate scientists warn that the glaciers and the permafrost – the glue that holds the mountains together – are thawing as the global temperature increases, making landslides more likely. Protecting areas will be spends almost $500m a year on protective structures, but a report carried out in 2007 for the Swiss parliament suggested real protection against natural hazards could cost six times that a worthwhile investment? Or should the country - and residents - really consider the painful option of abandoning some of their villages? The day the earth shook The Alps are an integral part of Swiss identity. Each valley, like the Loetschental, has its own culture. Mr Kalbermatten used to take pride in showing hotel guests the ancient wooden houses in Blatten. Sometimes he taught them a few words of Leetschär, the local Blatten, and the prospect of losing others like it, has made many Swiss ask themselves how many of those alpine traditions could disappear. Today, Blatten lies under millions of cubic metres of rock, mud, and ice. Above it, the mountain remains they were first evacuated, Blatten's residents, knowing their houses had stood there for centuries, believed it was a purely precautionary measure. They would be home again soon, they Lehner, a retired businessman, says no one expected the scale of the disaster. "We knew there would be a landslide that day… But it was just unbelievable. I would never have imagined that it would come down so quickly. "And that explosion, when the glacier and landslide came down into the valley, I'll never forget it. The earth shook." Landslides are 'more unpredictable' The people of Blatten, keen to get their homes back as soon as possible, don't want to talk about climate change. They point out that the Alps are always dangerous, and describe the disaster as a once in a millennium climate scientists say global warming is making alpine life more Huss, a glaciologist with Zurich's Federal Institute of Technology, as well as glacier monitoring group Glamos, argues that climate change was a factor in the Blatten disaster."The thawing of permafrost at very high elevation led to the collapse of the summit," he explains. "This mountain summit crashed down onto the glacier… and also the glacier retreat led to the fact that the glacier stabilised the mountain less efficiently than before. So climate change was involved at every angle."Geological changes unrelated to climate change also played a role, he concedes - but he points out that glaciers and permafrost are key stabilising factors across the team at Glamos has monitored a record shrinkage of the glaciers over the past few years. And average alpine temperatures are increasing. In the days before the mountain crashed down, Switzerland's zero-degree threshold – the altitude at which the temperature reaches freezing point – rose above 5,000 metres, higher than any mountain in the country."It is not the very first time that we're seeing big landslides in the Alps," says Mr Huss. "I think what should be worrying us is that these events are becoming more frequent, but also more unpredictable." A study from November 2024 by the Swiss Federal Research Institute, which reviewed three decades of literature, concurred that climate change was "rapidly altering high mountain environments, including changing the frequency, dynamic behavior, location, and magnitude of alpine mass movements", although quantifying the exact impact of climate change was "difficult". More villages, more evacuations Graubünden is the largest holiday region in Switzerland, and is popular with skiers and hikers for its untouched nature, alpine views and pretty villages. The Winter Olympics was hosted here twice - in the upmarket resort of St Moritz - while the town of Davos hosts world leaders for the World Economic Forum each village in Graubünden has a different story to was evacuated more than two years ago because of signs of dangerous instability in the mountain above. Its residents have still not been able to return, and in July heavy rain across Switzerland led geologists to warn a landslide appeared imminent. Elsewhere in Switzerland, above the resort of Kandersteg, in the Bernese Oberland region, a rockface has become unstable, threatening the village. Now residents have an evacuation too, heavy rain this summer raised the alarm, and some hiking trails up to Oeschinen Lake, a popular tourist attraction, were disasters have claimed lives. In 2017, a massive rockslide came down close to the village of Bondo, killing eight has since been rebuilt, and refortified, at a cost of $64 million. As far back as 2003, the village of Pontresina spent millions on a protective dam to shore up the thawing permafrost in the mountain every alpine village is at risk, but the apparent unpredictability is causing huge concern. The debate around relocation Blatten, like all Swiss mountain villages, was risk mapped and monitored; that's why its 300 residents were evacuated. Now, questions are being asked about the future of other villages the aftermath of the disaster, there was a huge outpouring of sympathy. But the possible price tag of rebuilding it also came with editorial in the influential Neue Zürcher Zeitung questioned Switzerland's traditional - and constitutional - wealth distribution model, which takes tax revenue from urban centres like Zurich to support remote mountain article described Swiss politicians as being "caught in an empathy trap", adding that "because such incidents are becoming more frequent due to climate change, they are shaking people's willingness to pay for the myth of the Alps, which shapes the nation's identity."It suggested people living in risky areas of the Alps should consider relocation. Preserving the alpine villages is expensive. And Neue Zürcher Zeitung was not the first to question the cost of saving every alpine community, but its tone angered three quarters of Swiss live in urban areas, many have strong family connections to the mountains. Switzerland may be a wealthy, highly developed, high-tech country now, but its history is rural, marked by poverty and harsh living conditions. Famine in the 19th century caused waves of Kalbermatten explains that the word "heimat" is hugely important in Switzerland. "Heimat is when you close your eyes and you think about what you did as a child, the place you lived as a child."It's a much bigger word than home."Ask a Swiss person living for decades in Zurich or Geneva, or even New York, where their heimat is, and for many, the answer will be the village they were born Mr Kalbermatten and his sister and brothers, who live in cities, heimat is the valley where people speak Leetschär, the dialect they all still dream in. The fear is that if these valleys become depopulated, other aspects of unique mountain culture could be lost too - like the Tschäggättä, traditional wooden masks, unique to the Loetschental valley. Their origins are mysterious, possibly pagan. Every February, local young men wear them, along with animal skins, and run through the Kalbermatten points to the example of some areas of northern Italy where this loss of culture has happened. "[Now] there are only abandoned villages, empty houses, and wolves."Do we want that?" For many, the answer is no: An opinion poll from research institute, Sotomo, asked 2,790 people what they most cherished about their country. The most common answer? Our beautiful alpine landscape, and our stability. But the poll did not ask what price they were prepared to pay. Trying to tame a mountain Boris Previsic, the director of the University of Lucerne's Institute for the Culture of the Alps, says that many Swiss, at least in the cities, had begun to believe they had tamed the alpine railways, tunnels, cable cars and high alpine passes are masterpieces of engineering, connecting alpine communities. But now, in part because of climate change, he suggests, that confidence is gone."The human induced geology is too strong compared to human beings," he argues. "In Switzerland, we thought we could do everything with infrastructure. Now I think we are at ground zero concerning infrastructure." The village of Blatten had stood for centuries. "When you are in a village which has existed already for 800 years, you should feel safe. That is what is so shocking."In his view, it is time to fight against these villages dying out. "To fight means we have to be more prepared," he explains. "But we have to be more flexible. We have always also to consider evacuation."At the end of the day, he adds, "you cannot hold back the whole mountain".In the village of Wiler, Mr Previsic's point is greeted with a weary smile. "The mountain always decides," agrees Mr Bellwald."We know that they are dangerous. We love the mountains, we don't hate them because of that. Our grandfathers lived with them. Our fathers lived with them. And our children will also live with them." At lunchtime in the local restaurant in Wiler, the tables are filled with clean-up teams, engineers and helicopter crew. The Blatten recovery operation is in full one table, a man from one of Switzerland's biggest insurance companies sits alone. Every half hour, he is joined by someone, an elderly couple, a middle aged man, a young woman. He buys each a drink, and carefully notes down the details of their lost along the valley's winding roads, lorries and bulldozers trundle up to the disaster site. Overhead, helicopters carry large chunks of debris. Even the military is Neuhaus commands the Swiss army's disaster relief readiness battalion, and says they must press on despite the scale of the task. "We have to," he says. "There are 300 life histories buried down there."The abiding feeling is one of stubborn determination to carry on. "If we see someone from Blatten, we hug each other," says Mr Kalbermatten."Sometimes we say, 'it's nice, you're still here.' And that's the most important thing, we are all still here."Lead image: The village of Blatten after the disaster. Credit: EPA / Shutterstock BBC InDepth is the home on the website and app for the best analysis, with fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and deep reporting on the biggest issues of the day. And we showcase thought-provoking content from across BBC Sounds and iPlayer too. You can send us your feedback on the InDepth section by clicking on the button below.
The Sun
a day ago
- The Sun
Huge volcanic eruption in Indonesia sends ash 6 miles high and poisonous gas toward villages
A VOLCANO has erupted in Indonesia, sending ash six miles high and poisonous gas toward villages. Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki, one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes, erupted for a second day - blanketing local areas with debris. 4 4 4 Another eruption Friday evening had sent clouds of ash up to an unbelievable 6.2 miles high. The night sky was also lit up with glowing lava and bolts of lightning. The two terrifying eruptions occurred in a span of less than five hours. Indonesia's Geology Agency recorded an avalanche of searing gas clouds mixed with rocks and lava travelling up to three miles down the slopes of the mountain. Drone observations showed deep movement of magma, setting off tremors that registered on seismic monitors. Volcanic material, including searing hot gravel, was thrown up to five miles from the crater - coating nearby villages and towns. The Agency asked residents to be vigilant about heavy rainfall that could trigger lava flows in rivers originating from the volcano. Saturday's eruption was one of Indonesia's largest since 2010 when Mount Merapi, the country's most volatile volcano, erupted on the densely populated island of Java. That eruption tragically killed more than 350 people and forced hundreds of thousands to evacuate. In June, a flight "red alert" was a issued and a tsunami feared after a massive 10-mile high ash cloud exploded from Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki. The Australian government issued a "red" aviation alert following the intense eruption. And Japan's Meteorological Agency has to investigate whether the eruption - with a 16,000-metre plume of ash - could spark a tsunami. Terrifying footage taken from a residential area nearby showed a gargantuan plume of and orange and grey smoke erupting from the volcano. The humongous mushroom cloud towered over horrified locals who watched on as dark smoke was spewed out into the air. In November last year, 10 people died after Mount Lewotobi spewed a fiery column of lava. Hot ashes hit several villages, burning down houses including a convent of Catholic nuns. Indonesia sits on the "Pacific Ring of Fire", an area of high seismic activity atop multiple tectonic plates. In April 2024, a remote volcano in Indonesia erupted and sent a tower of ash more than five kilometres into the sky. Thousands were evacuated and an international airport was closed after Mount Ruang erupted several times. Within the same month, the 725-metre-tall volcano had already erupted more than half a dozen times, forcing more than 6,000 people to flee their homes. 4
The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
Nordic countries hit by ‘truly unprecedented' heatwave
Cold Nordic countries are being seared by 'truly unprecedented' heat, as hot weather strengthened and lengthened by carbon pollution continues to roast northern Europe. A weather station in the Norwegian part of the Arctic Circle recorded temperatures above 30C (86F) on 13 days in July, while Finland has had three straight weeks with 30C heat. Scientists say it is the longest streak in records going back to 1961, and 50% longer than the previous record. 'Truly unprecedented heatwave still in full swing with maximum today about 32-33C,' said Mika Rantanen, a climate scientist at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, in a social media post on Thursday. 'Even the Arctic regions … have seen three weeks above 25C, and may rival tomorrow their August heat records.' The Norwegian Meteorological Institute said temperatures above 30C were recorded on 12 days in July by at least one station in its three northernmost counties. Although the country had a brief respite last week as hot weather moved north and east, the institute said it expected temperatures of 30C might be reached again over the weekend. 'We have some hot days ahead of us in northern Norway,' it said. In Sweden, meteorologists said long-term heatwaves were noted at several stations in the north of the country, with a weather station in Haparanda measuring 25C or more for 14 days in a row. In Jokkmokk, Lappland, the heatwave lasted for 15 days. 'To find a longer period at these stations, you have to go back more than a century,' said Sverker Hellström, a scientist at the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute. Blistering heat swept northern Europe in mid-July, driven by hot waters off the Norwegian northern coast and a stubborn area of high pressure that brought temperatures in the Nordics 8-10C above seasonal norms. The region has also since been hit by storms and lightning strikes that have sparked wildfires. The hot weather has taken people by surprise in a part of the continent better adapted to the cold. Researchers have found that countries such as the UK, Norway and Switzerland will face the greatest relative rise in uncomfortably hot days as the planet heats up, and have warned that their infrastructure is not well-suited to cope. On Wednesday, an ice rink in northern Finland opened its doors to people seeking refuge from the heat after they overfilled the local hospital's emergency room, according to Finnish media. On Thursday, herders warned that their reindeer were on the verge of dying in the heat. Swedish radio reported that foreign tourists heading north to Scandinavia for 'coolcations' had instead encountered dangerous heat warnings. 'As climate change progresses, exceptionally severe heatwaves will intensify,' said Heikki Tuomenvirta, a scientist at the Finnish Meteorological Institute. 'They are occurring more frequently, are more severe and last longer.'
