Eleven people lost their lives and 27 are missing as of 3:30 am (IST) on Tuesday in China's Beijing as relentless rainfall continues to wreak havoc for the fourth consecutive day. As per the state broadcaster CCTV, a typhoon brought incessant rainfall and massive flooding to northern China. Such catastrophe has made the rivers swell up and forced China to use a flood storage reservoir for the first time since its inception viz. 25 years ago. More than 52,000 people had been evacuated from Beijing as of Monday night and more than 100 mountain roads had been sealed off, the Guardian reported.
Heavy rains hit the west suburban parts of Beijing most severely. The deaths include at least one rescue worker and a local official while 27 people were reported missing.
Doksuri, one of the strongest storms to hit China in years, weakened as it rolled inland, however, authorities have issued a warning of more floods, and other geological disasters still lurk while posing a threat to the people. Remnants of typhoon Doksuri have battered northern China since Saturday evening. Doksuri is one of the strongest typhoons to hit China this year. It landed in the southeastern province of Fujian on Friday. China could also experience another storm as it braces for typhoon Khanun which is forecast to bring torrential rains and high winds to Japan’s Okinawa and Amami regions.
CCTV reported that localised thunderstorms and strong winds were predicted to hit Beijing its neighbouring city Tianjin, and Hebei on Tuesday.
A number of subway lines including trains in western suburbs were closed on Tuesday.
An 'airdrop rescue mission,' conducted by a unit of 26 soldiers and four helicopters, was launched on Tuesday morning to deliver hundreds of food packages and ponchos to people who were left stranded in and around a train station in Mentougou district as it remained to be heavily flooded.
CCTV in its report said, “On July 31, areas in Beijing including Fangshan and Mentougou suffered serious damage from water, causing three trains to get trapped on their routes, and road traffic in some areas was completely cut off.”
Beijing recorded an average of 260mm (10.2 inches) of rainfall from Saturday to early Monday, with the Changping Wangjiayuan Reservoir logging the largest reading at 738.3mm (29 inches). CCTV cited the city government while saying that rainfall over the past few days had exceeded records from a severe storm (the strongest storm to hit the nation after the foundation of modern China) 11 years ago. It affected more than 1.6 million people.
Doksuri storm destroyed coastal Fujian last week, taking a direct economic toll of 14.76 billion yuan (Rs 170 billion) on the south-eastern province. It affected almost 2.7 million people, with close to 562,000 evacuated from homes and more than 18,000 houses destroyed, reported the Guardian.