At least 11 dead as unusually heavy rains pound Beijing and north China

At least 11 people have died and almost 30 are missing in China amid terrible flooding in the mountains ringing the capital Beijing.

Days of heavy rains triggered by typhoon Doksuri have forced authorities to shut train stations and evacuate around 52,000 people in vulnerable areas to school gyms, media reports said on Tuesday (August 1).

State broadcaster CCTV said numerous houses have been flooded, roads torn apart, and cars piled into stacks following pounding rainfall highly unusual for Beijing.

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The Chinese capital generally enjoys a moderate and dry climate although the temperature dips steeply during winter.

The Beijing floods have claimed two lives. Flooding in other parts of northern China that rarely see such large amounts of rains have led to more deaths, media reports said.

Flights axed

The inclement weather led to the cancellation of dozens of flights, affected many bus routes, and prompted city authorities to issue the highest alert for flooding, the state-run People’s Daily said.

Two people were found dead in a river in Mentougou in Beijing on Monday morning following heavy downpours, it said.

Fangshan district also grappled with serious flooding. To curb the rising river levels, 2,000 police personnel were dispatched to help build dams.

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Beijing received average rainfall of 170.9 mm in 40 hours, starting on Saturday night (July 29), which is equivalent to the city’s average total rainfall for the month of July, official data showed.

Vehicular traffic was severely affected on Monday (July 31) as heavy rainfall flooded roads, and a road near a shopping center in western Beijing caved in on Sunday (July 30).

Beijing Capital International Airport cancelled 40 flights while many trains to and from Beijing were delayed.

China floods

Seasonal flooding hits large parts of China every summer, particularly in the semitropical south. However, some northern regions this year have reported the worst floods in 50 years.

In early July, at least 15 people were killed by floods in the southwestern region of Chongqing. In the central province of Hubei, rainstorms have trapped residents in their vehicles and homes.

China’s deadliest and most destructive floods in recent history were in 1998, when 4,150 people died, most of them along the Yangtze river.

(With agency inputs)