How a town in Beijing learnt to protect itself from floods
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a day ago
- CNA
Tropical storm Podul disrupts southern China schools, courts
BEIJING: Tropical storm Podul on Thursday (Aug 14) dumped torrential rain on southern China, still reeling from record downpours last week, and disrupted hospitals, schools and courts in Hong Kong after tearing through Taiwan and leaving 143 people injured. The hearing of Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai was cancelled after authorities put in place their highest-level "black" rainstorm warning, as supporters queued under umbrellas outside the court. Medical authorities also announced that out-patient clinics would remain shut until the rain had passed. Meanwhile, airports across the region reported cancellation rates of around 20 per cent, according to data from Flightmaster, as Podul pelted parts of the Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Hunan and Jiangxi with more than 70mm of rain an hour. Over a third of flights to Quanzhou - a key textile, footwear and apparel export hub - were cancelled, with analysts warning extreme weather events increasingly pose a threat to growth in the world's second-largest economy. China has been battling with record rainfall in its north and south as well as prolonged heatwaves in its interior. The government on Thursday announced 430 million yuan (US$59.9 million) in fresh funding for disaster relief, taking the total allocated since April to at least 5.8 billion yuan. "Authorities need to be extra ready," said Chim Lee, a senior analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit. "There's growing evidence that we're seeing more intense and slower-moving tropical cyclones. "China's southern coast is set for economic disruptions of all kinds. Most institutions in the region are fairly well prepared, but there also seems to be a subtle northward shift in where cyclones reach their peak intensity - these places need to keep a sharper eye out." Podul made landfall on the coast of China's southeastern province of Fujian at 12.30am local time, having weakened from a typhoon to a tropical storm after lashing Taiwan on Wednesday, where winds of up to 191kmh left one person missing and scores injured. But its residual vortex stands to wreak havoc in southern China, still reeling from the heaviest rains in generations last week, as it moves northwest at a speed of 30-35kmh. Across Guangdong, 75,000 people were evacuated last week, as a record 622.6 mm (24.5 inches) of rain fell on Guangzhou, the provincial capital from Aug 2 to 6 - almost three times the average rainfall for the city in August - killing at least seven people. Hong Kong last week experienced its heaviest August rainfall since 1884 last Tuesday. Authorities in Guangdong's Meizhou closed all the highways on Thursday due to the downpour, state media reported, while the high-speed railway linking the high-tech hubs of Shenzhen and Hangzhou in eastern Zhejiang province, some 1,200km away, was also suspended.
CNA
2 days ago
- CNA
How a town in Beijing learnt to protect itself from floods
In the town of Wang Ping in Beijing's western Mentougou district, memories of the devastating floods in 2023 and other past disasters continue to shape how residents respond when storms threaten.
CNA
6 days ago
- CNA
Death toll from northwest China floods rises to 13
BEIJING: The death toll from flash floods and mudslides in northwest China has risen to 13, state media said on Saturday (Aug 9), after the bodies of three people were found. Torrents of mud and water began hitting mountainous areas of Gansu province on Thursday, with the death toll listed as 10 on Friday as rescuers searched for at least 33 missing people. Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer, when some regions experience heavy rain while others bake in searing heat. Chinese President Xi Jinping called for the "utmost effort" in rescuing missing people, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Friday. The death toll stood at 13, with the number of missing now listed as 30, state news agency Xinhua said on Saturday. Hundreds of people had been rescued and thousands more evacuated, Xinhua added. It quoted a rescue official describing the situation as "complex" due to the mud and rough roads, with telephone lines and electricity also cut. State media on Friday put the number of people trapped in the mountainous Xinglong area at 4,000, with heavy rain pushing garbage into roads. Beijing's top economic planner has allocated 100 million yuan (US$14 million) towards disaster relief in Gansu. Authorities also announced a yellow alert on Saturday for torrential rains and activated a flood response plan in the provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei and Chongqing, CCTV said. China's south has also experienced torrential downpours this week, with tens of thousands of people evacuated across Guangdong. Heavy rain in Beijing in the north also killed 44 people last month, with the capital's rural suburbs hardest hit and another eight people killed in a landslide in nearby Hebei province. Scientists warn that the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events will increase as the planet continues to heat up because of fossil fuel emissions.
