BEIJING (BN24) — Relentless downpours and flash flooding have killed at least 34 people in Beijing and nearby regions, Chinese state media reported Tuesday, as rescue efforts intensify amid widespread devastation in the capital’s outer districts and neighboring Hebei province.
The latest tally includes 30 confirmed deaths in the Beijing municipality — 28 in the severely affected Miyun district and two in Yanqing — according to state broadcaster CCTV. Both districts lie on the city’s outskirts, far from the urban core, and were pummeled by some of the region’s heaviest rainfall in decades.
Authorities confirmed that more than 80,000 residents have been evacuated from affected parts of Beijing, including over 17,000 from Miyun alone. Additional flooding and overnight rain prompted the government to issue top-level emergency alerts and shut down schools, construction projects, and all outdoor recreational activities across the city.
The extreme weather also triggered a deadly landslide in neighboring Hebei province, where four people were killed and eight others remain missing in rural Luanping county. A local resident told Beijing News that communication lines were down and he was unable to reach family members caught in the disaster zone.
In a bid to manage rising waters, Beijing authorities released water from a reservoir in Miyun, now at its highest level since being constructed in 1959. Downstream residents were warned to stay clear of rivers as water levels surged and additional rain was forecast.
Dramatic scenes unfolded across the flood-hit region: uprooted trees lay strewn across streets in Taishitun, roughly 60 miles northeast of downtown Beijing, while submerged roads and collapsed power poles revealed the storm’s ferocity. In local shops and clinics, residents like Zhuang Zhelin and Wei Zhengming worked to clear thick layers of mud, recounting how floodwaters rushed in with little warning.
“The flood came rushing in so fast. In no time at all, the place was filling up,” Zhuang said as he shoveled sludge from his family’s building supply store. Wei, a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine, described climbing upstairs to escape the rising water. “I remember thinking, if no one came to get us, we’d be in real trouble.”
The central government responded by dispatching emergency teams and allocating 50 million yuan (about $7 million) to aid relief operations in Hebei. The cities of Chengde, Baoding and Zhangjiakou were among the hardest hit. In Tianjin’s Jizhou district, more than 10,000 people were also evacuated as rivers swelled and roads disappeared beneath muddy torrents.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang called the disaster in Miyun “serious” and demanded accelerated rescue and recovery operations. The capital, still recovering from historic flooding in 2023, is once again grappling with the lethal consequences of extreme weather.
AP
