Beijing – At least 38 people have died in the region of the Chinese capital after it was mistreated for almost a year of rain in a few days, activating floods and landslides, cutting power and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.
The heaviest toll was reported in the Chinese capital of Beijing, where 30 people died, followed by his neighboring province of Hebei with eight deaths, the state station CCTV reported Tuesday.
The intense rainy storms began to reach many parts of northern China as early as Friday, according to the country’s weather administration.
In an order issued on Monday, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, said that the country was in a “critical” stage of its summer flood season, urging local officials to prioritize savior lives.
The Chinese Central Government said Tuesday that he had assigned 350 million yuan ($ 48 million) in disaster relief funds to flooded places such as Beijing and Hebei.
The heaviest needles in Beijing occurred in the mountainous districts of northern Miyun, where 28 people died, and Yanqing, where two people died, authorities said on Tuesday, calling the extreme climate event “weird and highly destructive.”
At midnight on Monday, parts of Miyun had received up to approximately 21 inches of rain, reported the newspaper supported by the Beijing News state, almost as much as the approximately 23 inches that Beijing receives throughout the year.
The rain took Beijing officials to issue the highest storm alert level for the first time this year.
The rain damaged more than 30 road sections and cut the energy in more than 130 villages, and around 80,000 Beijing residents were evacuated to security, CCTV said.
A man named Dong, whose house in the Miyun district was flooded, said the waters had taken his washing machine and two cars.
“I am 70 years old and I have never seen such a big flood,” Dong told Sky News on Tuesday.
“If my wife and I did not get on the roof, it would be for us,” he added.
Li Xiaoya, a 27 -year -old editor in Beijing, said he was on a weekend trip to Miyun with his friends when his host of Sunday morning woke them up and told him to evacuate.
“I left just to find that the streets flooded, “Li told NBC News via Messaging App on Tuesday.” I dressed in the water to reach the main road, where I saw that most villagers had already evacuated a higher land. “
Li and his travel companions returned to the city safely when daylight broke out and water level fell largely.
From 7 in the morning, local time on Tuesday (7 pm on Monday ET), Beijing had dropped its rainy storm alert, allowing parks and tourist attractions to open again.
While the extreme climate in the north will gradually weaken, heavy rains will change to eastern China as the coastal region departs for the typhoon, which is expected to land on Wednesday, CCTV reported.
Beijing frequently experiences floods in summer. In 2023, severe floods in the city left at least 33 dead people, according to the state newspaper People’s Daily.
Fred Dufour reported from Beijing, and Peter Guo and Eve Qiao reported from Hong Kong.
Paula Jin, Sky News contributed.
