At least 20 dead and 27 missing as heavy rains from Typhoon Doksuri batter Beijing

Aug 01, 2023

At least 20 people have died in Beijing after one of the strongest storms to hit northern China in over a decade.

A further 27 are missing after flooding in the mountains surrounding the Chinese capital following days of heavy rainfall, brought by the remnants of Typhoon Doksuri.

Homes have been inundated by water, roads turned into rivers and cars piled up.

Train stations have also been closed, while more than 52,000 people have had to be evacuated.

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Flooding in other parts of northern China, which rarely see such large amounts of rain, has led to scores of deaths.

In a sign of the level of urgency, President Xi Jinping has issued an order for local governments to go “all out” to rescue those trapped and minimise the loss of life and damage to property.

Though the storm is weakening as it moves inland, authorities have warned there is a risk of further flooding.

Thunderstorms and strong winds are forecast for Beijing on Tuesday, as well as for neighbouring city Tianjin and Hebei province, state broadcaster CCTV said.

The rainfall during the past few days has exceeded records from a severe storm in July 2012, when the city recorded 190.3mm (7.5in) of rain in one day.

Beijing recorded an average of 260mm (10.2in) of rainfall from Saturday to early Monday, with the Changping Wangjiayuan Reservoir logging the largest reading at 738.3mm (29in).

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Muddy water surging down streets washed away cars in the Mentougou district on Beijing’s western edge.

Elsewhere, emergency workers used bulldozers to clear streets while residents waded through mud.

South of Beijing, in Hebei province, one local weather station said the rainfall amounted to 1,003mm (3.3ft) over the three-day period from Saturday to Monday – more than the amount normally seen over half a year. Rainfall in the province averages 605mm (1.9ft) a year.

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.

In 2021, more than 300 people died in flooding in the central province of Henan when record rainfall inundated the provincial capital of Zhengzhou.

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