Chinese state media report that at least 11 people have died and 27 are missing as deadly flooding wrecks havoc in the mountains surrounding Beijing.
Torrential rain continued this week in Beijing, as storm Doksuri spilled the average rainfall for the entire month of July on the city within 40 hours.
Trapped in flooded infrastructure
State media report that rivers in the extensive Hai River Basin rose to dangerous levels this week. A number of houses washed into the Yongding River. Some 55,000 people evacuated from their homes in Baoding City.
A military unit of 26 soldiers and four helicopters set off in the early hours of Tuesday to deliver hundreds of food packages and ponchos to people trapped in the train station in Mentougou.
Incessant heavy rains have forced authorities in China to close trains stations and evacuate vulnerable communities into school gyms, said the state broadcaster on Tuesday.
Numerous buildings, including homes, were flooded, roads torn to shreds and cars pushed into water-logged piles.
No reprieve after Doksuri
Storm Doksuri is the most powerful typhoon that hit China this year. Government officials said the rainfall over the past few days exceeded records from a severe storm 11 years ago. In 2012, the strongest storm since the founding of modern China, hit Beijing. The city experienced some 190 mm of rain in one day – disrupting the lives of over 1.6 million people.
Doksuri was initially classified as a super Typhoon. It made landfall last Friday in the Fujian province. It then ripped through about 18,000 house and forced 562,000 people to flee.
Right before that, the deadly storm caused havoc in Taiwan and the Philippines.
While Doksuri tapers off, forecasters are now turning their attention to typhoon Khanun. Which is making its way towards China’s coast this week.
Authorities warn that Khanun could inflict further damage on crops and infrastructure already weakened by Doksuri.
The intense winter-like conditions come after China suffered record temperatures. Scientists claim that the extreme weather links to climate change.
RELATED: WC flood damage estimated at over R1 billion
