WATCH: Beijing's roads turn into rivers as typhoon Doksuri turns violent in China
WATCH: Beijing's roads turn into rivers as typhoon Doksuri turns violent in China
Beijing’s western suburbs experienced a catastrophic deluge on Monday, with cars being swept away and roads transformed into waterways as relentless rain since the weekend caused severe flooding. At least two people lost their lives, and hundreds found themselves trapped, despite the evacuation of tens of thousands from their homes during the previous night.
Videos shared by state media depicted numerous flooded roads in the Mentougou district, with half-submerged vehicles being pulled by fast-moving torrents, as the remnants of Typhoon Doksuri unleashed record-breaking rainfall on the city of nearly 22 million.
Online videos show days of heavy rainfall led to flash floods and street flooding in the suburbs and mountains of western #Beijing, especially Mentougou, which underwent the heaviest rainfall in Beijing. About 5,000 people evacuated from the mountainous areas prone to flood. pic.twitter.com/771AXOK08T
— Qingqing_Chen (@qingqingparis) July 31, 2023
Record rain in #Beijing! Over 500 mm of rainfall in 24 hours!
The weather station data has been interrupted, and the rainstorm is still going on!#flood #tornado #洪水 #台风 #杜苏芮 #暴雨 #china #Doksuri #flooding #storm #TyphoonDoksuri #rainpic.twitter.com/ThdvPHxqst— Chaudhary Parvez (@ChaudharyParvez) July 31, 2023
Emergency patrols in Mentougou discovered two bodies in a river, while rescue teams worked tirelessly to save hundreds of people in other parts of the capital. The heavy rain extended beyond Beijing, affecting Tianjin and Hebei province, covering an area almost the size of Britain, following the downgrade of Typhoon Doksuri to a tropical depression over the weekend. reported Reuters.
On Monday, three of the five rivers in the Hai river basin reached dangerous levels. In Baoding city, some houses were washed into the Yongding river, resulting in the evacuation of nearly 55,000 residents, as reported by state media.
Doksuri was one of the most powerful storms to strike China in years, causing extensive flooding in the southern province of Fujian and displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
According to state media, the average rainfall in Beijing from Saturday night to Monday afternoon reached 176.9 mm (7 inches), with a weather station in Mentougou recording a maximum of 580.9 mm (23 inches) of rainfall.
The Beijing observatory maintained a red alert for heavy rainfall, while the Beijing Hydrology Station upgraded its flood warning due to forecasts of more rain and river flooding.
Throughout the weekend until Monday morning, incessant rainfall shattered daily precipitation records at 14 weather stations in Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, and Shandong provinces.
As a result of the devastating conditions, more than 31,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Beijing, over 4,000 construction sites suspended work, nearly 20,000 buildings were inspected for damage, and various tourist spots were closed.
With inputs from agencies
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