Dozens Dead, Thousands Evacuated in China's 'Once-in-a-Century' Floods

Severe Rainstorms Cause Chaos in Northern China

A series of severe rainstorms have wreaked havoc across northern China, leading to at least 30 deaths and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people. The heavy downpours, which have persisted for several days, have triggered landslides, flooding, and widespread infrastructure damage. Authorities have issued their second-highest rainstorm warning for Beijing, Hebei, Tianjin, and ten other provinces, according to state media.

As of midnight on Monday, the death toll in Beijing reached 30, with the highest number of casualties reported in Miyun, a suburban district northeast of the city center. Over 80,000 residents in the capital alone have been evacuated, as per reports from the Beijing Daily. In some areas, roads are submerged, and people are unable to commute to work due to the extreme conditions.

Residents described the rain as unusually heavy, with one woman from Miyun, surnamed Jiang, stating that such intense rainfall is not typical. "The road is full of water, so people aren't going to work," she said. In the village of Xinanzhuang, homes and vehicles were submerged by murky floodwaters, while a road leading onto a highway was completely underwater. A local man in his sixties noted that he had never seen water levels so high.

Nearby, the spillways of the Miyun Reservoir gushed with torrents of water, as the reservoir reached its highest levels since its construction in 1959. The Huairou district in the north of Beijing and Fangshan in the southwest were also heavily impacted. Dozens of roads have been closed, and over 130 villages have lost electricity, prompting warnings from local authorities to avoid risk areas unless absolutely necessary.

In the neighboring port city of Tianjin, more than 10,000 people were evacuated due to major flash floods. Meanwhile, in Hebei province, a landslide near Chengde killed eight people, with four still missing. Social media users shared distressing accounts of being unable to reach family members in Chengde's mountainous Xinglong county. Mudslides and floods forced over 8,000 people to evacuate, while rescuers worked to reach villages that had lost contact.

Local authorities have issued flash flood warnings through Tuesday evening, with Chengde and surrounding areas under the highest alert. Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged officials to prepare for worst-case scenarios and expedite the relocation of residents in flood-prone regions. Local governments have made "all-out efforts" to search for missing persons and reduce casualties, according to the Beijing Daily.

The government has allocated 350 million yuan ($49 million) for disaster relief in nine regions affected by the heavy rains, with an additional 200 million yuan set aside for Beijing. This comes after similar weather events in 2023, when heavy rain killed over 80 people across northern and northeastern China, including 29 in Hebei. Some reports suggested that Hebei bore the brunt of a government decision to divert the deluge away from Beijing.

Natural disasters are common in China, especially during the summer months when some regions face heavy rainfall while others experience extreme heat. As the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, China plays a significant role in climate change, which scientists say contributes to more frequent and intense weather events. However, the country is also a global leader in renewable energy, aiming to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.