Swollen rivers, waterways and reservoirs across China exacerbated flooding and landslides yesterday, killing at least four people, as authorities warned of more intense rains and heightened disaster risks in the coming days.
Forty-one rivers across the nation have flooded, China Central Television (CCTV) said, citing the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources. The ministry said it had issued flood warnings for small and midsize rivers and mountain torrents.
Heavy rains yesterday intensified around Beijing and surrounding provinces, including those in central China, such as Hunan and northern Inner Mongolia. Four people died in a landslide in northern Hebei and eight people are missing.
Photo: AFP
In the suburban area of Miyun District in Beijing, more than 4,400 people have been resettled after flash floods and landslides floored many villages, CCTV reported.
Images circulated on China’s Wechat app showed areas of Miyun where cars and trucks were floating on a flooded road where water levels had risen so high that it had submerged part of a residential building.
Electricity cuts also affected more than 10,000 people in the area, CCTV said.
Northern China has seen record precipitation in recent years, exposing densely populated cities, including Beijing, to flood risks. Some scientists link the increased rainfall in China’s usually arid north to global warming.
The Central Meteorological Observatory said that heavy rainfall would continue to drench northern China over the next three days. Beijing yesterday issued its highest level flood alert, Xinhua news agency said.
The storms are part of the broader pattern of extreme weather across China due to the East Asian monsoon, which has caused disruptions in the world’s second-largest economy.
Xiwanzi Village in Shicheng Town, near Miyun Reservoir, was severely affected, CCTV said, with an additional 100 villagers transferred to a primary school for shelter.
It comes after the maximum flood peak flow into the Miyun Reservoir reached a record-high of 6,550m3 per second, Beijing authorities said on Sunday.
Two high-risk road sections have been sealed in Beijing’s Pinggu District, authorities said.
In neighboring Shanxi Province, videos from state media showed roads inundated by strong gushing currents and submerged vegetation, including crops and trees.
Shaanxi Province, home to China’s historic city of Xian, yesterday also issued flash flood disaster risk warnings.
Authorities are carrying out search-and-rescue work across cities including Datong, where a driver in a Ford car has lost contact while driving in the floods, the People’s Daily reported.
Two were dead and two missing in Hebei, CCTV said on Sunday morning. Overnight rain dumped a record 145mm per hour on Fuping in the industrial city of Baoding.
In Hunan’s Liudiequan grand canyon in Chunkou town, water rose so rapidly on Sunday that a tourist was swept away, CCTV said.
China’s National Development and Reform Commission yesterday said that it was urgently arranging 50 million yuan (US$6.99 million) to support Hebei.
The funds would be used to repair damaged roads and bridges, water conservancy embankments, schools and hospitals in the disaster area.
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