Thirty dead as northern China hit by heavy rain, landslides

The Australian

3 days ago

Heavy rain in Beijing killed 30 people and forced authorities to evacuate tens of thousands as swathes of northern China were lashed by torrential downpours that sparked deadly landslides, state media said Tuesday.
Weather authorities have issued their second-highest rainstorm warning for the capital, neighbouring Hebei and Tianjin, as well as ten other provinces in northern, eastern and southern China, state news agency Xinhua said.
The rains are expected to last into Wednesday, it added.
As of midnight Monday, "the latest round of heavy rainstorms has left 30 people dead in Beijing", 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.
"Continuous extreme heavy rainfall caused major disasters," it said.
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 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.
- Climate change factor -
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.
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