At least 11 people are dead and 27 missing after heavy rains lashed Beijing, Chinese state media said Tuesday.
Military helicopters have been deployed to deliver supplies to stranded train passengers after the deadly rainstorms wreaked havoc in the capital.
Storm Doksuri, a former super typhoon, has swept northwards over China since Friday, when it hit southern Fujian province after scything through the Philippines.
500m of rain fell in just 24hrs in Beijing, China triggering intense flash flooding that swept away bridges, roadways and cars.
— Greenpeace Canada (@GreenpeaceCA) July 31, 2023
This is the planet on 1.2ºC of fossil fuelled heating.
Do we really want to find out what comes next, or are we ready to take BOLD #ClimateActionNow? pic.twitter.com/R40iLdX8uU
Heavy rains began pummelling the city and surrounding areas on Saturday, with nearly the average rainfall for the entire month of July dumped on Beijing in just 40 hours.
Heavy rain from Typhoon Doksuri has triggered landslides and flooding in China’s Fujian Province.
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) July 30, 2023
Rescuers are now looking for residents trapped in submerged houses, while authorities assess the colossal clean-up operation ⤵️
🔗: https://t.co/Rih9egc9ZL pic.twitter.com/jly7t7IQgv
On Tuesday, state broadcaster CCTV updated the overall death toll for the capital, reporting that "heavy rainfalls killed at least 11 people, 27 are missing".
A military unit of 26 soldiers and four helicopters launched an "airdrop rescue mission" in the early hours of Tuesday to deliver hundreds of food packages and ponchos to people stranded in and around a train station in Beijing's hard-hit Mentougou district, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
"On July 31, areas in Beijing including Fangshan and Mentougou suffered serious damage from water, causing three trains to get trapped on their routes, and road traffic in some areas was completely cut off," CCTV reported.
I hope nobody inside these cars washing down an overflowing river near #Beijing’s west fifth ring road. They appear to have been washed off the collapsed bridge. Heavy driving rain and flooding causing havoc across northern #China. pic.twitter.com/RgLpP5vrpD
— Stephen McDonell (@StephenMcDonell) July 31, 2023
The broadcaster was running live images on Tuesday morning of a row of buses half submerged in floodwater in Beijing's southwest Fangshan neighbourhood.
Around 150,000 households in Mentougou had no running water, the local Communist Party newspaper Beijing Daily said Tuesday, with 45 water tankers dispatched to offer emergency supplies.
Local media on Monday published footage of chaotic scenes aboard high-speed rail trains stranded on tracks for as long as 30 hours, with passengers complaining that they had run out of food and water.
This is a real life disaster movie!!!
— Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) July 31, 2023
Flooding in Beijing, China after over 500m of rain fell in just 24hrs.#Beijing #Flooding #China #ClimateActionNow #GlobalBoiling #TyphoonDoksuri #typhoon pic.twitter.com/AfvfwzimX6
- Red alert -
Beijing and neighbouring Hebei province were on red alert overnight for rainstorms, with meteorological authorities warning of potential flash floods and landslides.
The city activated a flood control reservoir on Monday for the first time since it was built in 1998, the Beijing Daily said.
In Handan, Hebei province, rescuers lifted by crane reached a man trapped on his car in floodwaters on Sunday, lifting him to safety before the car was flipped and washed away by the current.
Heavy rain from Typhoon Doksuri continues to cause severe flooding across northern China.
— BBC Weather (@bbcweather) July 31, 2023
Here's the city of Beijing. pic.twitter.com/GxGsrlzecm
China has been experiencing extreme weather and posting record temperatures this summer, events that scientists say are being exacerbated by climate change.
Experts had warned that the downpour could prompt even worse flooding than in July 2012, when 79 people were killed and tens of thousands evacuated, according to local media.
The country is already preparing for the arrival of another typhoon -- Khanun, the sixth such storm of the year -- as it nears China's east coast.
Heavy rain and flood in China
— Vidéos Chine (@VideosChine) July 31, 2023
Video from @yulin18494807 #China #Flood pic.twitter.com/AA1Isud5rZ