Authorities in Beijing have evacuated tens of thousands of local residents following heavy flooding in suburban areas to the west of the capital, amid warnings of further flooding and rainfall to come as Typhoon Doksuri dumped huge amounts of rainfall on mountainous areas nearby.
At least two people died as flash floods swept through Mentougou district on the outskirts of Beijing, with social media footage showing cars and other vehicles being swept away by turbulent floodwaters amid screams and shouts from onlookers in nearby buildings.
News photos showed people picking their way along damaged roads, after some 580 mm of rainfall hit the area over the weekend, the People’s Daily newspaper reported.
Cheng Ming-tian, who heads the meteorological bureau in democratic Taiwan, said China typically has an average national daily rainfall of around 60 mm, which is already considered “torrential.”
However, Mentougou had seen rainfall of 320 mm daily over several days, he said.
“The rains were too heavy for the flood discharge capacity, so it overflowed from the rivers to the nearby streets, which is why we see all that water rushing through the streets and the cars being swept away,” Cheng told Radio Free Asia on Monday.
“The river isn’t wide or deep enough [to carry all of the rainwater] and it can’t accommodate all of the water from the overflowing drainage ditches,” he said. “It’s similar to the way things used to be in Taiwan — it’s a matter of urban development.”
He said some atmospheric fluctuations over the weekend had strengthened Typhoon Duksuri, bringing the heavy rain to Beijing.
Upgraded flood warnings
More than 30,000 people have been relocated, as the Beijing municipal meteorological bureau issued a red warning signal for rainstorms and upgraded flood warnings to red on Monday, the Global Times newspaper reported.
“On Monday morning, about 80 employees from a distribution station of a logistics company in Zhoukoudian town in Fangshan [district] were stranded by the floods caused by the storm. The emergency rescue of these people is underway,” it said.
Videos posted to social media showed a number of people trapped by the floods, awaiting help, as well as footage of a man being dragged from the waters as first aiders tried to revive him, as others shouted: “It’s too late! Too late!”
A Beijing resident who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals said they expect the losses from the floods to be heavy.
“There were casualties in those videos — they were doing first aid, but there was no hope he would survive having been under for so long,” the resident said.
A resident who gave only the surname Tang said she had personally seen hundreds of cars submerged in flood water, and had posted video footage that was later deleted.
Cars swept away
A resident surnamed Wang said the mountainous area around Fangshan was hardest hit by the flooding, and that state media were warning people to stay home for their own safety.
“Many people are awaiting rescue on higher ground, and many cars have been swept away by floodwaters,” the Global Times reported, citing video clips sent by residents.
“Several other videos taken in Mentougou showed that water had flooded a bridge and also poured into some restaurants and large supermarkets,” it said, adding that some areas had lost their piped water supply.
But it said most of the city was “functioning normally.”
The municipal flood control headquarters has issued 28 emergency notices since Saturday night, including four “geological disasters” and a flash flood in Fangshan’s Beixiasi village.
In total, 30,652 at-risk residents have been relocated, while 4,069 construction projects have been suspended, while around 150,000 flood control personnel remain on stand-by, the paper said.
A passenger train from Hami in the northwestern region of Xinjiang was stranded near Mentougou’s Anjiazhuang station with a large number of children on board, the Beijing News reported.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie.