11 dead and 27 missing in Beijing's heavy rainfall

Among the 11 deaths, four are from the western Mentougou district, four from the northern Changping district, two from the southwestern Fangshan district, and one from the Haidian district.

The one from Haidian is a firefighter who unfortunately died during rescue operations. Also, one government worker from Mentougou died during the inspection. The identities of the other casualties are still being verified, said the government.

Among the 27 missing, four are members of the Blue Sky Rescue Team who were conducting rescue operations in a village in Fangshan.

So far, this round of disasters in Beijing has affected 44,673 people in 13 districts and a total of 127,000 people have been relocated to safety. The economic losses caused by the disaster are still being calculated.

As of 6 am on Tuesday, the average precipitation in Beijing was 257.9 millimetres since Saturday, with the urban area averaging 235.1 mm, Mentougou district averaging 470.2 mm, and Fangshan averaging 414.6 mm, according to the government data on Tuesday.

Beijing authorities rescue people trapped by severe floods

Beijing authorities mobilised firefighters and emergency workers to rescue residents trapped in flood waters, state television CCTV reported on Tuesday, as the remnants of Typhoon Doksuri dumped record rainfall on the city of nearly 22 million.

Relentless rain since the weekend transformed roads in Beijing’s western suburbs into rivers, killing and trapping hundreds, despite an overnight evacuation of tens of thousands from their homes.

Mentougou in the western mountainous region of Beijing had been hit by torrential rains from Friday to Sunday. The rain-triggered flash floods left a mess on the roads. As soon as the rain weakened around Sunday noon, local authorities immediately started to clean up the roads.

"We started the cleanup from 11:20 to 11:30. We are responsible for removing all the obstacles on the road. Now two lanes are basically ready (for traffic)," said Zhang Wenmin, an official of the Environmental Sanitation Center of Mentougou District.

As of Monday night, the district had dispatched 396 sanitation workers and 17 sets of machinery to clean the roads and more than 120 tons of sludge and sundries had been cleaned up.

Multiple resettlement sites have also been set up across the district to ensure the safety and basic needs of the flood-affected residents.

One of the sites at Longquan Primary School has arranged 10 classrooms and 600 sets of supplies and provided food and water to help the evacuees.

"We evacuated more than 130 people from more than 60 households this time. We have prepared bottled water, instant noodles, bread, ham sausage and also hot water for the residents," said Li Xuemei, a staff member of the Chengzi Subdistrict Office.

As of Tuesday morning, most of the residents affected by the heavy rains had been evacuated to safe places.

Beijing suburb submerged in mud and water after extreme rain

Roads and streets in Beijing's western suburbs were on Tuesday clogged by mud and floodwater after flooding caused by relentless rain since the weekend killed at least two and trapped hundreds.

Vehicles in Mentougou district are half-submerged in the mud and residents were seen carrying drinking water in deep mud and transferring life necessities with a shopping cart. City workers and excavators were seen clearing the mud and damage.

The remnants of Typhoon Doksuri dumped record rainfall on the city of nearly 22 million. Tens of thousands were evacuated from their home overnight on Monday.

The Beijing Observatory kept a red alert on Tuesday - the highest warning - for heavy rainfall in place, while Beijing Hydrology Station upgraded its flood warning with more rain and river flooding forecast.

China Daily

Reuters

Asia News Network