ZHUZHOU: China’s capital has recorded its heaviest rainfall in no less than 140 years over the previous few days after being deluged with heavy rains from the remnants of Hurricane Doksuri.
The town recorded 744.8 millimeters (29.3 inches) of rain between Saturday and Wednesday morning, the Beijing Meteorological Bureau mentioned Wednesday.
Beijing and the encompassing province of Hebei have been hit by extreme flooding due to the document rainfall, with waters rising to harmful ranges. The rain destroyed roads and knocked out energy and even pipes carrying consuming water. It flooded rivers surrounding the capital, leaving automobiles waterlogged, whereas lifting others onto bridges meant for pedestrians.
Among the many hardest hit areas is Zhuozhou, a small metropolis in Hebei province that borders Beijing’s southwest. On Tuesday night time, police there issued a plea on social media for lights to help with rescue work.
It is unknown how many individuals are trapped in flood-stricken areas within the metropolis and surrounding villages.
On Wednesday, waters in Gu’an county in Hebei, which borders Zhuozhou, reached as excessive as midway up a pole the place a surveillance digital camera was put in.
Gu’an county resident Liu Jiwen, 58, was evacuated from his village on Tuesday night time. “There’s nothing we can do. It’s natural disaster,” he mentioned.
Two different individuals had been attempting to cross by the flooded areas to rescue a relative trapped in a close-by village.
Practically 850,000 individuals have been relocated, native authorities in Hebei province mentioned.
On Wednesday, the variety of confirmed deaths from the torrential rains round Beijing rose to 21 after the physique of a rescuer was recovered. Wang Hong-chun, 41, was with different rescuers in a rubber boat when it flipped over in a quickly flowing river. 4 of her teammates survived.
A minimum of 26 individuals stay lacking from the rains.
The earlier document for rainfall was in 1891, the Beijing Meteorological Bureau mentioned Wednesday, when the town acquired 609 millimeters (24 inches) of rain. The earliest exact measurements made by machines are from 1883.
The document rainfall from Hurricane Doksuri is probably not the final. Hurricane Khanun, which was lashing Japan on Wednesday, is predicted to go towards China later this week. The highly effective storm, with floor winds of as much as 180 kph (111 mph), may additionally hit Taiwan earlier than it reaches China.
1000’s of individuals had been evacuated to shelters in colleges and different public buildings in suburban Beijing and in close by cities. The central authorities is disbursing 44 million yuan ($6.1 million) for catastrophe aid in affected provinces.
The severity of the flooding took the Chinese language capital without warning. Beijing normally has dry summers however had a stretch of record-breaking warmth this yr.
