Beijing records 29 inches of rain, its most in at least 140 years
Residents are evacuated by rubber boats through flood waters in Zhuozhou in Hebei province
China’s capital has recorded its heaviest rainfall in at least 140 years over the past few days after being deluged with heavy rains from the remnants of Typhoon Doksuri.
The city recorded 744.8 millimeters of rain between Saturday and yesterday morning, the Beijing Meteorological Bureau said.
Beijing and the surrounding province of Hebei have been hit by severe flooding because of the record rainfall, with waters rising to dangerous levels. The rain destroyed roads and knocked out power and even pipes carrying drinking water. It flooded rivers surrounding the capital, leaving cars waterlogged, while lifting others onto bridges meant for pedestrians.
Among the hardest hit areas is Zhuozhou, a small city in Hebei province that borders Beijing’s southwest. On Tuesday night, police there issued a plea on social media for lights to assist with rescue work.
It’s unknown how many people are trapped in flood-stricken areas in the city and surrounding villages.
Yesterday, waters in Gu’an county in Hebei, which borders Zhuozhou, reached as high as halfway up a pole where a surveillance camera was installed.
Gu’an county resident Liu Jiwen, 58, was evacuated from his village on Tuesday night. “There’s nothing we can do. It’s natural disaster,” he said.
Two other people were trying to pass through the flooded areas to rescue a relative trapped in a nearby village.
Nearly 850,000 people have been relocated, local authorities in Hebei province said.
Yesterday, the number of confirmed deaths from the torrential rains around Beijing rose to 21 after the body of a rescuer was recovered. Wang Hong-chun, 41, was with other rescuers in a rubber boat when it flipped over in a rapidly flowing river. Four of her teammates survived.
At least 26 people remain missing from the rains.
The previous record for rainfall was in 1891, the Beijing Meteorological Bureau said yesterday, when the city received 609 millimeters of rain. The earliest precise measurements made by machines are from 1883.
Thousands of people were evacuated to shelters in schools and other public buildings in suburban Beijing and in nearby cities. The central government is disbursing 44 million yuan ($6.1 million) for disaster relief in affected provinces.
The severity of the flooding took the Chinese capital by surprise. Beijing usually has dry summers but had a stretch of record-breaking heat this year.
The record rainfall from Typhoon Doksuri may not be the last.
Khanun moves toward China after pounding Okinawa
A powerful typhoon slammed Okinawa and other islands in southwestern Japan yesterday with high winds injuring more than 20 people as it moved west making its way toward mainland China.
Typhoon Khanun, which means jackfruit in Thai, was heading west at speeds of 10 kph, packing surface winds of up to 180 kph. It was at sea southwest of Okinawa’s main island, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Twenty-two people were injured, most of them minor, according to the Okinawa prefectural government. The typhoon damaged homes and forced transportation to halt and stores to close as it slowly moved west.
In the Ogimi village in northeastern Okinawa, a man was found without vital signs after a garage collapsed on him due to violent wind, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said. Several other homes were also damaged.
Hundreds of domestic and international flights in and out of the Naha airport were canceled, and public transportation, including buses, light rail transit systems and ferries connecting the region’s islands, were suspended.
Violent weather hit the region as the typhoon traveled slowly westward to the East China Sea.
Up to 20 centimeters of rainfall were expected in the Okinawa region by midday Thursday, the agency said.
Officials warned residents against flying objects due to violent winds and urged them to stay indoors and away from windows. ANDY WONG & HUIZHONG WU, ZHUZHOU,MDT/AP
