Latest news with #heavyrain
Al Jazeera
14 hours ago
- Climate
- Al Jazeera
Photo: Deadly rain, landslides force mass evacuations in northern China
Published On 29 Jul 2025 29 Jul 2025 Heavy rain has killed at least 30 people and forced authorities to evacuate tens of thousands after swaths of northern China were lashed by torrential downpours that prompted landslides, according to state media. Weather authorities have issued their second-highest rainstorm warning for the capital Beijing, neighbouring Hebei and Tianjin, as well as 10 other provinces in northern, eastern and southern China, state news agency Xinhua said on Tuesday. The rains are expected to last into Wednesday, it added. As of midnight on Monday, 'the latest round of heavy rainstorms has left 30 people dead in Beijing,' Xinhua said, citing the city's municipal flood control headquarters. More than 80,000 people have been evacuated in the Chinese capital alone, local state-run outlet Beijing Daily said on social media. The death toll was highest in Miyun, a suburban district northeast of the city centre, it said. Chinese President Xi Jinping urged authorities late on 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 ($48m) for disaster relief in nine regions hit by heavy rains, state broadcaster CCTV said on Tuesday. They include northern Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, northeastern Jilin, eastern Shandong and southern Guangdong. A separate 200 million yuan ($27m) has been set aside for the capital, the broadcaster said.
RNZ News
15 hours ago
- Climate
- RNZ News
Heavy rain falls on Tasman again: 'We're definitely over it'
Tasman residents who have spent the last month in clean up mode have been hoping today's rain doesn't cause the same devastation seen in recent weeks. People in the district have endured two large floods and repeated orange heavy rain warnings, since the first flood caused widespread damage on 27 June. Dovedale has been hit by more rain in the latest weather event. Photo: RNZ/Mark Papalii Upper Moutere farmer Murray Silcock said it had been a worrisome few weeks. "Most farmers here were very nervous, not only farmers, the whole community is just wondering where we're heading now into the future with low lying land and flooding in houses, not just paddocks." Murray Silcock Photo: RNZ/Mark Papalii Silcock is a bull beef farmer near Dovedale. He said his farm could handle 100 millimetres of rain in one go, and on Tuesday afternoon it had already received about 60mm. Today's rain forecast - two weeks after the last flood that saw his calf-rearing sheds damaged by floodwater and inundated with silt - had him feeling anxious. "The first one softened everything and did a lot of damage, a lot of sediment, a lot of fences knocked over, then along two weeks later comes the second flood and it just played havoc." Since then, Silcock said they had been busy cleaning up. Farmlands had been supportive, organising a bulldozer and fencing gear, helping to coordinate recovery work along the Dove River and getting silt cleared out of the sheds before 2000 bobby calves arrived later this week. It has been a worrisome few weeks for farmers in the area. Photo: RNZ/Mark Papalii A fifth-generation farmer, having farmed in the area his whole life, he said it was the wettest winter he could recall. "When I looked in the diary a couple of weeks ago, it was around about 1100 mm over the last three and a half months, which is a lot of rain in this area, because a lot of that actually fell over two weeks." He estimated the clean up, building fences, reinstating culverts and fixing slips would take 12 months and cost around $200,000, only some of which would be covered by insurance. Further south at the Civil Defence centre in Tapawera, lead welfare officer Kelly Russell - who has lived in the district for nearly 30 years - said this was also the worst winter she had experienced. "We've had a couple of years where we've had a little bit of rain, a little bit of flooding, but nothing compared to this." The centre was open for anyone needing to drop in for support and would remain staffed overnight, "People are pretty stressed, there's a lot of damage in different places, the last thing we really need is more rain. It'd be nice to have a bit of sunshine but we're all hanging in there doing what we have to do, that's what you do when you're in the country." Russell said the repeat nature of the floods was difficult to deal with and she was "definitely over" the rain. "You're constantly thinking, 'are my stock safe? Is my land safe? Am I going to lose anything this time? It's hard." She was hopeful the rain would not come to much and the settlement would not experience flooding again, this time around. Tapawera NPD shop manager Sarah Jacobs said after the back-to-back floods, many in the community were exhausted. "There is definitely a sense of anxiety and fear in the air, but as I keep saying, preparation is important and this has been a really good opportunity to be prepared for other events that should happen, like earthquakes or any natural disasters." Sarah Jacobs Photo: RNZ/Mark Papalii Jacobs said it was important people had emergency kits, ready to go. "I learned that myself the hard way as I was evacuated in the first flood and had very little with me and it was four days before we could get it's definitely raised a great awareness to be ready and prepared for any disaster." The petrol station lost power for about 18 hours in the first flood and was unable to provide anyone with fuel, which included emergency services, and Jacobs said they were now exploring back-up systems to ensure they could continue to operate during future power outages. She said the community was still facing a big clean up that was likely to take months, if not years. "The mud and the silt and the sand that's just been dumped in places, it's heartbreaking and you get stuck in it and it smells." "We're definitely over it, we're looking forward to some warmer weather and some sunshine... we're ready to put this behind us now." Dovedale hit by more rain in latest weather event Photo: RNZ/Mark Papalii Tasman mayor Tim King said after a briefing this morning with MetService, the forecast had improved slightly and there was no longer a high chance of it being upgraded to a red warning. He said those in areas previously affected by flooding remained at risk and should be prepared, which included staying elsewhere if they felt unsafe. Nelson Tasman Emergency Management duty group controller Rob Smith said the region had "stood up really well today". It remains under a heavy rain warning until at least 10pm, with some parts until midnight. Service said the peak of the weather had passed in Golden Bay as the weather system moved to the east. The emergency operations centre in Tasman would continue to monitor the weather overnight. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
CNA
16 hours ago
- Climate
- CNA
Vietnam flash flood kills five, dozens evacuated
HANOI: A weekend flash flood in Vietnam's mountainous north killed five people, authorities said on Tuesday (Jul 29), while another person remains missing after the deluge. Heavy rains triggering flash floods were reported Saturday night in Son La province, destroying 22 houses, damaging scores more and forcing dozens of families to evacuate, the agriculture ministry said Tuesday. Three bodies were recovered on Monday, a ministry statement said, adding to two others already found dead in the aftermath, with the search for another person still continuing. More than 445 acres of crops and 2,600 cattle and poultry were also swept away. Vietnam is prone to tropical storms, which often cause deadly flash floods and landslides. Human-driven climate change is causing more intense weather patterns that can make destructive floods more likely. Last week, Tropical Storm Wipha killed three people and flooded nearly 4,000 homes in the country's central Nghe An province. A sudden whirlwind and abnormal weather pattern overturned a tourist boat in Vietnam's UNESCO area of Ha Long Bay Jul 19, killing 39 people, including several children.
BreakingNews.ie
16 hours ago
- Climate
- BreakingNews.ie
Dozens dead after flooding and landslides near Beijing
Heavy rain has caused flooding and landslides that washed away cars, forced evacuations and knocked out power around the Chinese capital, killing at least 38 people. The flood risk for parts of Beijing, Hebei province and neighbouring Tianjin city remained high until Tuesday evening. Advertisement State media broadcast footage of muddy waters rising into homes in rural areas and rescuers carrying an injured person on a stretcher and searching on a damaged road. Premier Li Qiang said the heavy rain and flooding in the hard-hit Beijing district of Miyun caused 'serious casualties' and called for rescue efforts, according to the Xinhua News Agency. Soldiers talk to villagers on a road damaged by floods (Andy Wong/AP) The storm knocked out power in more than 130 villages in Beijing, destroyed communication lines and damaged more than 30 sections of road. More than 16cm (6in) of rain fell on average in Beijing by midnight, with two towns in Miyun recording 54cm (21in), the city said. Advertisement Heavy flooding washed away cars and downed power poles in Miyun, an outlying district that borders Hebei's Luanping county. More than 80,000 people have been relocated in Beijing, including about 17,000 in Miyun, a Beijing city statement said. The city government said 28 people died in Miyun and two others in Yanqing district on Monday. Four more people in neighbouring Hebei province were discovered dead on Tuesday, state broadcaster CCTV reported, after eight people were said to be missing after a landslide in a rural part of Luanping county in the province. Authorities had found four of the dead on Monday. Emergency rescue teams said more landslides occurred in the same region on Tuesday although they did not report any further casualties. Advertisement Uprooted trees lay in piles in the town of Taishitun, about 60 mile north east of central Beijing. Streets were covered with water, with mud left higher up on the walls of buildings.
ABC News
16 hours ago
- Climate
- ABC News
Dozens killed as heavy rains and floods wreck Beijing's infrastructure
At least 30 people have been killed in Beijing this week in floods sweeping the Chinese capital. More than 80,000 people were relocated in Beijing, the city government said in a statement. Beijing saw more than 16 centimetres of rain by Monday night and was forecast to get 30cm of rainfall on Tuesday. In Miyun district, 28 people died and 17,000 people had to be relocated. Two people died in Yanqing district. Another four people were killed in a landslide on Monday in neighbouring Hebei province. Eight others were missing, as six months' worth of rain fell over the weekend. Another 10,000 people were evacuated from the nearby Jizhou district under the city of Tianjin, Xinhua reported. A high-level emergency response was launched by Beijing authorities on Monday night, ordering people to stay inside, closing schools, suspending construction work and stopping outdoor tourism and other activities. The central government said in a statement that it had sent 50 million yuan ($10 million) to Hebei and dispatched a high-level team of emergency responders to help the affected cities, which include Chengde, Baoding and Zhangjiakou. China's Premier Li Qiang said the heavy rain and flooding in Miyun caused "serious casualties" and called for rescue efforts, according to China's Xinhua News Agency. 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". The storm knocked out power in more than 130 villages in Beijing, destroyed communication lines and damaged more than 30 sections of road. Heavy flooding washed away cars and downed power poles in Miyun, which borders Hebei's Luanping county. Two towns in Miyun recorded 54cm of precipitation, which forced authorities to release water from a reservoir that was at its highest level since it was built in 1959. Trees were uprooted, streets were flooded and buildings were left with mud on the walls in the town of Taishitun, about 100km north-east of central Beijing. A resident told state media Beijing News that he could not reach his relatives because communication lines were down. "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, who was clearing mud with his family from their building materials shop. Next door, Zhuang's neighbour Wei Zhengming, a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, was shovelling mud in his clinic: his feet in slippers were covered in mud. "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," Mr Wei said. Heavy rain started last Wednesday and intensified around Beijing and surrounding provinces on Monday. "The cumulative amount of precipitation has been extremely high — reaching 80–90 per cent of the annual total in just a few days in some areas," said Xuebin Zhang of the University of Victoria in Canada and chief executive 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," Professor Zhang said. 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. The 2023 floods in Beijing killed at least 33 people. AP/Reuters
