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30 dead, 80 000 residents relocated as ‘intense volume of rainfall' hits China
30 dead, 80 000 residents relocated as ‘intense volume of rainfall' hits China

News24

time15 hours ago

  • Climate
  • News24

30 dead, 80 000 residents relocated as ‘intense volume of rainfall' hits China

30 people died as a result of heavy rainfall in China. China's usually arid north has seen record precipitation in recent years. Train and bus services were suspended and flights were cancelled. Extreme weather killed at least 30 people in Beijing after a year's worth of rain fell in a matter of days, stretching the Chinese capital's disaster management capabilities and prompting some experts to call the city a rain trap. Much of the rain inundated Beijing's mountainous north near the Great Wall, with 28 deaths reported in the district of Miyun and two in Yanqing, the official Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday. It did not say when or how the deaths occurred. Heavy rain started last Wednesday and intensified around Beijing and surrounding provinces on Monday, with the capital experiencing rainfall of up to 543.4mm in its northern districts, Xinhua said. The average annual rainfall in Beijing is around 600mm. 'The cumulative amount of precipitation has been extremely high - reaching 80% - 90% of the annual total in just a few days in some areas,' said Xuebin Zhang of the University of Victoria in Canada and CEO of the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC). Very few systems are designed to handle such an intense volume of rainfall over such a short period. Xuebin Zhang The local topography - mountains to the west and north - 'trapped' the moist air and forced it to rise, enhancing the extraordinary amount of precipitation, he said. China's usually arid north has seen record precipitation in recent years, with some scientists linking the rainfall to global warming. In the summer of 2023, heavy rain and flooding killed at least 33 people in Beijing. READ | Two dead, people trapped on a train in US flash flooding, as state emergency declared Rainfall in the city of Xingtai in neighbouring Hebei province exceeded 1 000mm in two days - double the yearly average. Late on Monday, President Xi Jinping said there had been 'heavy casualties and property losses' in Beijing and the provinces of Hebei, Jilin and Shandong, and ordered 'all-out' search and rescue efforts. Zhai Yujia/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images More than 80 000 Beijing residents had been relocated, Xinhua reported, with roads and communication infrastructure damaged and power to 136 villages cut off overnight. The most intense rain occurred on Saturday in Beijing's hilly Huairou, which saw 95.3mm of rain in one hour. In Miyun on Monday, some people were trapped at an elderly care centre as water levels rose close to the roof. Emergency rescue services swam into the building and used ropes to pull out 48 people. On Tuesday, parks, libraries and museums including the Palace Museum at the Forbidden City were closed. Train and bus services in the suburbs and along waterways were suspended. Hundreds of flights were cancelled or delayed at Beijing's two airports, state media reported. Heavy rain also pounded the province of Hebei and the city of Tianjin neighbouring Beijing, which are all part of the vast Hai river basin. Four people were killed in a landslide in Hebei on Monday, with eight still missing, as six months' worth of rain fell over the weekend. In two villages in Tianjin on Monday, major roads were flooded, bridges damaged, with only the roofs of single-storey houses visible, China Central Television (CCTV) reported. Heavy rain is expected to persist in parts of Beijing, Hebei and Tianjin on Tuesday, the emergency management ministry said on Monday night, adding that 'the disaster relief situation is complex and severe'. Some residents in the region posted on social media platform Weibo calling on authorities to expedite rescue efforts. 'The flood is still coming, and there is still no power or signal, and I still can't get in touch with my family!' a post on Tuesday morning said.

China floods: At least 30 killed in Beijing and 80,000 evacuated
China floods: At least 30 killed in Beijing and 80,000 evacuated

Sky News

time18 hours ago

  • Climate
  • Sky News

China floods: At least 30 killed in Beijing and 80,000 evacuated

At least 30 people have been killed and tens of thousands evacuated due to heavy rain and flooding in and around Beijing. Heavy rains intensified around the Chinese capital and surrounding areas on Monday, with the city experiencing rainfall of up to 54cm (21 inches) during a period of "continuous extreme rain", China's official Xinhua news agency said. A statement from the Beijing city government said 28 people had died in Miyun district and two had been killed in Yanqing district as of midnight on Monday. Both areas are mountainous outlying parts of Beijing, far from the city centre. More than 80,000 people have been relocated in the Chinese capital, including around 17,000 in Miyun, the city government's statement said. It comes as reports on Monday said four people had been killed in a landslide in a rural part of Luanping county in Beijing's neighbouring Hebei province. Eight others were missing. A resident told the state-backed Beijing News that communications were down and he couldn't reach his relatives. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered "all-out" search and rescue efforts late on Monday to minimise casualties. The recent floods have resulted in "significant casualties and property losses" in Beijing and the provinces of Hebei, Jilin and Shandong, he said, according to Xinhua. Beijing authorities launched a top-level emergency response at 8pm local time (1pm UK time) on Monday, ordering people to stay inside, closing schools, suspending construction work and stopping outdoor tourism and other activities until the response is lifted. Further heavy rainfall forecast More heavy rain is expected in Beijing on Tuesday, with rainfall of up to 30cm (12 inches) forecast for some areas. The storms in the region have already knocked out power in more than 130 villages in the Beijing area, destroyed communication lines and damaged more than 30 sections of road. More than 16cm (6 inches) of rain had fallen on average by Tuesday, with two towns in Miyun recording 54cm (21 inches) of rainfall, the city's government said. Flooding has washed away cars and downed power poles in Miyun - as authorities there released water from a reservoir that was at its highest level since it was built in 1959. 'The flood came rushing in' Uprooted trees lay in piles with their bare roots exposed in the town of Taishitun in Miyun, about 100km (60 miles) northeast of central Beijing. Streets were covered with water, with mud left higher up on the walls of buildings. "The flood came rushing in, just like that, so fast and suddenly. In no time at all, the place was filling up," said Zhuang Zhelin, as he cleared mud with his family from their building materials shop. Next door, his neighbour Wei Zhengming, a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, shovelled mud in his clinic. "It was all water, front and back. I didn't want to do anything. I just ran upstairs and waited for rescue. I remember thinking, if no one came to get us, we'd be in real trouble," he said. Meanwhile, China's central government said it had sent 50 million yuan (about £5.2m) to Hebei and has dispatched a high-level team of emergency responders to help affected cities, which include Chengde, Baoding and Zhangjiakou.

What you need to know about derechos, an uncommon and destructive weather event
What you need to know about derechos, an uncommon and destructive weather event

Yahoo

timea day ago

  • Climate
  • Yahoo

What you need to know about derechos, an uncommon and destructive weather event

Climate-Derecho-Explainer Prolonged wind events that unleash heavy rainfall and travel far distances sometimes qualify as derechos. Derechos can happen almost anywhere in the United States but are most common in the central and eastern regions of the country. Winds typically gust over 60 mph (97 kmh) and can cause damage comparable to tornadoes or hurricanes. Here's what you need to know about this uncommon form of extreme weather. What is a derecho? A derecho is a long-lived line of storms that often produces extreme wind damage, said Gino Izzi, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's office in Chicago. Derechos can last eight hours or longer and travel hundreds of miles (kilometers) across the country with winds typically gusting over 60 mph (97 kmh). 'There's been instances where derechos have moved from Iowa all the way to Washington, D.C.,' said Izzi. Because of the intense straight-line winds and vast distances a derecho can travel, the damage they cause is sometimes comparable to the destructive forces of tornadoes or hurricanes. Hurricanes are low-pressure systems that form over tropical or subtropical ocean waters and have organized thunderstorm activity, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Unstable air that is hot and humid is supportive of derecho formation. Derechos can happen any time of year, but July and early August are the prime time for this type of extreme weather, said Izzi. Derechos are an uncommon weather event and usually a small number occur each year, but Izzi said several years could pass without a recorded derecho. There are different types of derechos. Serial derechos tend to form with large, powerful storms and typically occur in early spring, fall and early winter. Progressive derechos are usually smaller and tend to form in summer as they feed off of hot, humid conditions. Hybrid derechos have characteristics of both serial and progressive types. Conditions that are favorable for derechos can also lead to small, embedded tornadoes, which are violently rotating columns of air that extend down from a thunderstorm and reach the ground. Derechos tend to produce much more widespread damage than tornadoes because they can produce a swath of damage that exceeds 100 miles (160 kilometers) in width, whereas the damage from violent tornadoes is typically less than a mile (1.6 kilometers) wide. Safety tips include using a radio to listen to the forecast, monitoring devices for severe weather alerts from the NWS and having access to a sturdy shelter. 'It can go from nice, calm weather to 100 miles per hour winds blowing down trees in literally a matter of minutes,' said Izzi. Where do derechos form? Derechos can happen almost anywhere in the U.S. but are most common in the central and eastern regions of the United States. Progressive derechos tend to favor the northern and central Plains eastward into the Midwest, Great Lakes, and Ohio Valley area. That is because domes of heat can form across central parts of the U.S. and derechos tend to form on the northern and northeastern flanks of the dome where there are high levels of atmospheric instability. This also tends to be where the jet stream winds are stronger. Humidity from crops like corn, also known as corn sweat, also magnifies how unstable the hot, humid air is. A 2003 derecho traveled from Arkansas through several southern states, including Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. Two people died and 11 were hurt. A 2009 storm dubbed a Super Derecho by meteorologists traveled from western Kansas to eastern Kentucky. It caused several deaths and injuries and more than $500 million in damages by the time it had traveled more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers). A 2020 derecho that traveled from eastern Nebraska across Iowa and parts of Wisconsin and Illinois reached wind speeds of a major hurricane. The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center reported winds approaching 100 mph (160 kph) in places. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, residents emerged from their homes to find an estimated 100,000 trees had been snapped or torn out of the ground. In December 2021, a derecho in the Great Plains and Upper Midwest spawned at least 45 tornadoes, caused widespread damage and killed at least five people. Derechos can cause flash flooding Derechos can be associated with a slow-moving or nearly stationary band of thunderstorms. This could potentially lead to heavy rainfall and flash floods that can cause significant damage. Flash floods associated with a derecho that occurred July 4-5, 1969, caused Killbuck Creek in Ohio to rise more than 20 feet (6 meters) above normal level and at least two dozen fatalities, according to NOAA. ___ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at

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