In Beijing, as a result of large-scale floods caused by heavy downpours, at least 30 people died, and almost 80,000 residents were evacuated to safe areas. About this informs China’s central television CCTV.
The biggest losses were experienced by the mountainous northern regions of the capital — Miyun and Yanqing, where the water level reached critical levels. The downpours started last Wednesday, and on Monday they intensified significantly. Some areas received more than 543mm of rain in two days, almost the entire annual average for Beijing, which is around 600mm.
As of Tuesday morning, more than 730 million cubic meters of water has flowed into Miyun, the largest reservoir in northern China, located near Beijing. At the same time, only 120 million cubic meters have been released from it since Sunday. Rapid filling is also observed in four reservoirs in the Yanqing district, where water is also being released to maintain safe levels.
In connection with the threatening situation, the Beijing authorities declared red, the highest level of danger, and urged citizens to stay as far as possible from rivers and reservoirs. Due to bad weather, most of the tourist sites in the city, including the Forbidden City and the National Museum of China, are temporarily closed to visitors.
Heavy rains also covered neighboring regions — Hebei province and the central city of Tianjin. At least four people are reported dead and eight are missing in Hebei. No victims were recorded in Tianjin, but the city authorities evacuated more than 5,500 people from potentially dangerous areas in advance. Hundreds of specialists, specialized equipment and units of internal forces are involved in search and rescue operations.
The Chinese central government has allocated about 600 million yuan (more than 80 million US dollars) for urgent recovery measures in the affected regions. The main part of the funds will be directed to the repair of the infrastructure, the restoration of electricity supply, communication and other measures to eliminate the consequences of natural disasters.
