The floods kill at least 38 while the Beijing region obtains almost a year of rain

BEIJING – At least 38 people died in the Chinese capital region after being beaten by almost a year of rain in a few days, triggering 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 Beijingwhere 30 people died, followed by his neighboring province of Hebei with eight deaths, CCTV state diffuser reported Tuesday.

Intense rain storms began to strike many parts of northern China on Friday, according to the country country.

In a prescription issued on Monday, Chinese president Xi Jinping said the country was at a “critical” stage of its summer flood season, urging local officials to prioritize life -rescue lives.

The Chinese central government said on Tuesday that it had allocated 350 million yuan ($ 48 million) to rescue funds in the event of a disaster in places struck by floods such as Beijing and Hebei.

Beijing’s heaviest showers have occurred in the Northern mountainous districts of Miyun, where 28 people died, and Yanqing, where two people died, said officials on Tuesday, qualifying the extreme meteorological event “rare and very destructive”.

Monday, some parts of Miyun had received up to around 21 inches of rain, reported the newspaper on the back of the state, Beijing News, almost as much as the 23 inches that Beijing receives all year round.

The rain encouraged Beijing officials to issue the highest level of rain alert for the first time this year.

The rain has damaged more than 30 sections of road and power cut in more than 130 villages, and around 80,000 Beijing residents were evacuated to safety, video surveillance said.

A man nicknamed 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 have not climbed to the roof, it would be over for us,” he added.

Li Xiaoya, editor-in-chief of 27 years in Beijing, said that he was in the course of the weekend in Miyun with his friends when they were woken up early on their membership host on Sunday and said to evacuate.

“I only went out to find That the streets were flooded, “Li at NBC News said via the messaging application on Tuesday.” I waded in the water to reach the main road, where I saw that most villagers had already evacuated to higher land. “”

Li and his passenger colleagues have returned safely in complete safety when daylight has broken and the water level has largely dropped.

At 7 a.m. Tuesday, local time (7 p.m. Monday HE), Beijing had lowered its rainstation alert, allowing parks and tourist attractions to reopen.

While extreme time in the north should gradually weaken, heavy rains will move towards the east of China while the coastal region accelerates for the Typhon Co-May which should land on Wednesday, video surveillance reported.

Beijing frequently undergoes floods in summer. In 2023, Serious floods in the city left at least 33 people dead, according to the daily newspaper managed by the state.

Fred Dufour reported to Beijing, and Peter Guo and Eve Qiao reported to Hong Kong.