BEIJING: Rains that pummelled Beijing in recent days were the heaviest since records began 140 years ago, the city’s weather service said on Wednesday.

“The maximum (amount) of rainfall recorded during this storm, which was 744.8 millimetres, occurred at the Wangjiayuan Reservoir in Changping,” the Beijing Meteorological Service said, adding it was the “heaviest rainfall in 140 years”.

Storm Doksuri, a former super typhoon, swept northwards over China after hitting southern Fujian province last week, following its battering of the Philippines.

Heavy rains began pummelling the capital and surrounding areas on Saturday, with nearly the average rainfall for the entire month of July dumped on Beijing in just 40 hours.

Rainstorms kill 20 in Chinese capital and Hebei province

On Tuesday, state broadcaster CCTV said the rains had killed at least 11 people in Beijing, two of whom were workers “killed on duty during rescue and relief” operations.

Thirteen people were still missing, but another 14 had been found safe, the broadcaster said.

In neighbouring Hebei province, where over 800,000 people were evacuated, nine people were killed and six were missing, it said.

Another two casualties were reported in north-eastern Liaoning province over the weekend.

President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for “every effort” to rescue those “lost or trapped” by the rains.

China has been experiencing extreme weather and posting record temperatures this summer, events that scientists say are being exacerbated by climate change.

The country is now on alert for the arrival of typhoon Khanun, the sixth such storm of the year, as it nears China’s east coast.

‘Extremely dangerous’

In the nearby border area between Beijing and Hebei, vast piles of floating garbage and debris backed up by a bridge were seen by AFP journalists.

A policeman said that the place they were standing on Wednesday had been “extremely dangerous” the previous day.

Elsewhere, a local 71-year-old resident surnamed Li was with her husband looking at a park she is very familiar with, but which now resembled a lake.

“I have never seen anything like this in more than 40 years,” Li said AFP.

Even during the worst rainfalls in Beijing’s history, the area had never seen water flow in until now, said Li.

“We saw people online discussing that the bridge in Liuli River Park was flooded. As we often come here to have fun, we wanted to see it with our own eyes,” she added.

“Usually there is a wooden bridge surrounded by metre-high grass, but now you can’t see the grass anymore as it’s completely flooded,” said Li, pointing to the flooded zone.

In Zhuozhou, rescuers in helmets and red and blue overalls came to the rescue of stranded residents in inflatable boats. A furniture shop, which usually opens onto a now unrecognisable expressway, was surrounded by water.

In some sections of the road, water levels reached four metres, according to a rescue worker, making it entirely impassable.

Nearby, bare-chested onlookers were waiting for the water to recede so that they could return to their homes.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2023