BEIJING (AP) – Heavy rain and high water levels on rivers in northeastern China were threatening cities downstream yesterday prompting the evacuation of thousands, although the country appears to have averted the worst effects of the typhoon season battering parts of east Asia.
Hebei province surrounding the capital Beijing on three sides issued alerts for several of its cities.
The province of Heilongjiang to the north, was evacuating entire villages in anticipation of life-threatening deluges.
Rescue work remains underway. At least 20 people have been reported killed in Beijing’s outer suburbs and another 27 were missing following the weekend storms that quickly overwhelmed drainage systems.
Beijing usually has dry summers, but had a stretch of record-breaking heat this year that broke dramatically over the weekend with almost a week of constant rain and drizzle.
Power was knocked out in areas, public transport and summer classes were suspended and citizens of the metropolis of more than 20 million were told to stay home.
The nearby cities of Tianjin and Zhuozhou were also hit hard. Fire services aided by volunteer rescue groups searched apartment buildings and railway tunnels for stranded people, bringing hundreds to safety.
With it’s status as the nation’s capital, the headquarters of the ruling Communist Party and home to cultural treasures such as the ancient Forbidden City, Beijing has provided special protection from flooding through the diversion of waters to neighbouring regions.
That sparked complaints on social media yesterday of flooding in surrounding areas that could allegedly have been avoided if the rainwater had been flushed through the capital’s system of canals and rivers.
Other regions, especially in China’s south, have suffered unusual deadly summer flooding.
Other parts of the country are struggling with drought, putting further pressure on food supplies for the nation’s 1.4 billion people already struggling with the disruption in grain shipments.
Muddy water surging down streets washed away cars in the hilly Mentougou district on Beijing’s western edge.
“A couple of cars parked behind my apartment building disappeared in just one minute,” said resident Liu Shuanbao. In Zhuozhou, southwest of Beijing, some 125,000 people from high-risk areas were moved to shelters, Xinhua said. President Xi Jinping issued an order for local governments to go all out to rescue those trapped and minimise loss of life and property damage.
The government of Tianjin, a port east of Beijing, said 35,000 people were evacuated from near the swollen Yongding River.
As much as 500 millimetres (mm) of rain has fallen in some places since last Saturday, according to the Hebei province weather agency. Some areas reported as much as 90mm of rainfall per hour.
Some 13 rivers exceeded warning levels in the Haihe Basin, which includes Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang, Xinhua said, citing the Ministry of Water Resources.
