Heavy rains and flooding have killed more than 30 people in Beijing and surrounding areas, according to state media reports, while tens of thousands were evacuated from the capital.
State broadcaster CCTV reported that by midnight Monday, 28 people had died in Beijing’s severely affected Miyun district and two others in Yanqing district—both located on the outskirts of the city.
In neighboring Hebei province, a landslide killed four people, with eight others still missing.
The downpour began over the weekend and intensified around Beijing and nearby regions on Monday. The capital’s northern districts received up to 543.4mm of rainfall, according to Xinhua news agency.
Authorities relocated over 80,000 residents as the storm hit, damaging roads, communication networks, and cutting power to 136 villages by Monday night.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “all-out” rescue efforts to reduce casualties, while Premier Li Qiang acknowledged “significant casualties” in Miyun.
Beijing issued its highest-level flood warnings, urging residents to stay indoors. Officials also released water from the Miyun reservoir—now at its highest level since its construction in 1959—warning people to avoid rising rivers downstream. By Tuesday morning, more than 730 million cubic meters of water had flowed into the reservoir, the largest in northern China.
Floodwaters swept away cars and knocked down power lines in Miyun, near Hebei’s Luanping county. In Taishitun, about 100km northeast of central Beijing, uprooted trees littered the streets, and mud coated walls after floodwaters receded.
“The flood came rushing in—so fast and sudden. Before we knew it, the place was filling up,” said Zhuang Zhelin, who was clearing mud from his family’s building supply shop.
Beijing activated its highest emergency response Monday evening, closing schools, halting construction, and suspending outdoor tourism. The heaviest rainfall was expected early Tuesday, with some areas forecast to receive up to 30cm.
Last year, extreme flooding in Beijing killed dozens and displaced a million people, with much of the damage occurring in Hebei. Authorities faced criticism for flood control measures that worsened conditions in the neighboring province.
The central government has allocated 50 million yuan ($7 million) to Hebei and sent emergency teams to assist affected areas.
Climate change is intensifying extreme weather worldwide, making deadly disasters like floods, heatwaves, and wildfires more frequent. Many of the worst events in the past decade would have been nearly impossible without human-caused global warming.
(Reporting by Reuters, the Associated Press, and Agence France-Presse)
