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More than a million displaced and dozens dead after record rain drenches northeastern China

05 August 2023 18:45 (UTC +04:00)

More than a million people have been forced from their homes by the remnants of a storm in China’s northeastern Hebei province, according to state media, as officials warned it could take a month for the waters to recede in some areas, APA reports citing CNN.

Typhoon Doksuri slammed into southeastern China’s Fujian province on July 28 before weakening and making its way north.

The rains that followed soaked Hebei, a province of 75 million, and the neighboring cities of Beijing and Tianjin. Flooding in those regions stranded residents, washed away bridges and highways, killing about 30 people in total, according to Chinese authorities.

The storm also brought the heaviest rainfall Beijing has experienced in 140 years, marking a significant test of the region’s capacity to handle extreme weather that experts warn will become more frequent with climate change.

Evacuated residents have been transferred to makeshift shelters in hotels and schools, according to state media reports.

Social media posts show people dropping off donations to these shelters or setting up booths to offer food, while a district government within Tianjin called on residents to help house their displaced relatives and neighbors.

Many of those displaced in Hebei, an industrial and agrarian hub that is home to many of Beijing’s commuters, have been forced to leave their houses in areas where authorities have released pent-up floodwaters that had overwhelmed reservoirs and waterways.

At least 10 have been killed in Baoding, a major city in Heibi, the city government said on Saturday. Another 18 were reported missing. The rains in the city forced about 627,000 to evacuate and affected more 1.1 million people, local authorities said.

Thousands of homes have already been damaged or destroyed. The local government said that the economic damages from the storm stand at about $2.2 billion.