Beijing, Aug 1 (EFE).- At least 11 people have died and 27 are missing due torrential rains that have battered Beijing since late last week, the latest official figures released by local authorities showed Tuesday.
A woman carries a water container along a muddy road during a downpour in Mentougou District, west of Beijing, China, 01 August 2023. EFE-EPA/MARK R. CRISTINO
Among the victims are two emergency services workers who lost their lives while carrying out rescue operations, state-run newspaper Beijing Daily reported.
A bulldozer clears mud from a residential compound in Mentougou District, west of Beijing, China, 01 August 2023. EFE-EPA/MARK R. CRISTINO
The rainfall, the heaviest recorded in the Chinese capital in recent years, has affected more than 44,000 people and led to the evacuation of some 127,000, the newspaper added.
People clear a road from mud inside a residential compound in Mentougou District, west of Beijing, China, 01 August 2023. EFE-EPA/MARK R. CRISTINO
Among the 27 missing are four members of a rescue team who fell into the water in a rural area.
Debris and rubbish lay among cars parked inside a compound in Mentougou District, west of Beijing, China, 01 August 2023. EFE-EPA/MARK R. CRISTINO
The average rainfall recorded in the city between Thursday and 6 am on Tuesday was 257.9 millimeters although in some western and southern districts it exceeded 400 millimeters.
A woman walks on a muddy street next to damaged by flood cars during a downpour in Mentougou District, west of Beijing, China, 01 August 2023. EFE-EPA/MARK R. CRISTINO
The Mentougou district of the capital, with average rainfall of 320 millimeters that caused a local river to overflow, had to evacuate 5,000 inhabitants.
Workers remove mud from a road during a downpour in Mentougou District, west of Beijing, China, 01 August 2023. EFE-EPA/MARK R. CRISTINO
Two people were also reported killed by the floods on Monday evening.
The authorities have issued a red alert for floods in most of the municipal territory and have warned of the risk of landslides, mudslides and other rain-related disasters.
The local government has expressed its condolences to the victims’ families and has asked citizens to follow weather updates and take preventive measures.
The northern cities of Zhangjiakou, Chengde, Tangshan, Baoding and Xiong’an, near Beijing, have also been affected by heavy rainfall and forced to evacuate thousands of residents.
The effects of Typhoon Doksuri, which hit southern and central China last week, have triggered the heaviest rainfall in Beijing and northern China in more than a decade, state-run newspaper Global Times reported.
Doksuri made landfall on Friday morning on the coast of the city of Jinjiang in the southeastern Fujian province, with a maximum wind speed of 155 kilometers per hour (96 miles per hour) and gradually weakened over the weekend and as it moved north.
Meanwhile, a new typhoon, Khanun, following a trajectory similar to that of Doksuri, is approaching the Philippines, a country where Doksuri caused at least 25 deaths. EFE
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