At least 30 people have died in Beijing and neighbouring Hebei province after torrential rain caused widespread flooding, with authorities evacuating more than 80,000 residents from the Chinese capital. State broadcaster CCTV reported that 28 deaths occurred in Beijing's Miyun district and two in Yanqing district as of midnight Monday, while a landslide in Hebei killed four people, with eight others missing.
Rainfall reached up to 543.4mm in northern districts of Beijing, according to state news agency Xinhua. The city relocated 80,322 residents as the rain hit, with roads and communication infrastructure damaged and 136 villages left without power. President Xi Jinping ordered 'all-out' search and rescue efforts to minimise casualties.
Beijing issued its highest-level rain and flood alerts on Monday, advising residents to stay indoors. Authorities released water from the Miyun reservoir, which reached its highest level since it was built in 1959, warning people to stay away from rivers downstream as more heavy rain was forecast. Over 730 million cubic metres of water had flowed into the reservoir by Tuesday morning.
Heavy flooding washed away cars and downed power poles in Miyun, which borders Hebei's Luanping county. In the town of Taishitun, about 100km northeast of central Beijing, streets were covered with water and mud. 'The flood came rushing in, just like that, so fast and suddenly. In no time at all, the place was filling up,' said Zhuang Zhelin, a local resident clearing mud from his building materials shop.
The heaviest rain was expected early Tuesday, with up to 30cm forecast for some areas. The central government sent 50 million yuan (about $7 million) to Hebei and dispatched a high-level team of emergency responders. The floods come after extreme floods in 2023 killed dozens and forced 1 million to relocate, with criticism that a 'moat' around Beijing intensified flooding in Hebei.
