Heavy rainfall and severe flooding wreaked havoc across northern China on Monday, claiming at least four lives and leaving eight people missing, according to state media reports. The downpours triggered landslides, overwhelmed reservoirs, and forced thousands to evacuate across Beijing and neighboring provinces.
In Hebei province, which surrounds the Chinese capital, torrential rain led to a deadly landslide near Chengde city, killing four people and leaving eight others unaccounted for. Over the weekend, two more fatalities were reported due to flooding in the region. The National Emergency Management Department has dispatched teams to assess the situation, describing the flooding as “severe.”
Beijing authorities have issued the country’s second-highest warning level for rainstorms and the highest alert for flooding, with storms expected to continue into Tuesday. In the suburban Miyun district, more than 4,000 residents were evacuated as the area’s reservoir recorded its largest water inflow since construction over 60 years ago.
In Mujiayu, a town near the reservoir, military vehicles and ambulances navigated flooded streets as torrents of water were released to manage the overflow. Power lines were downed, roads destroyed, and farmland submerged, highlighting the scale of the devastation.
Elsewhere, in Shanxi province, a bus accident related to flooding left one person rescued and 13 others missing. In Fuping County of Hebei, more than 4,600 people were relocated over the weekend due to rising water levels.
The central government has responded by allocating 50 million yuan (approximately $7 million) for emergency relief and infrastructure repairs in Hebei, the National Development and Reform Commission announced.
China is no stranger to summer natural disasters, frequently alternating between intense rainfall and punishing heatwaves. While the country remains the world’s top emitter of greenhouse gases, it is also a global leader in renewable energy, aiming for carbon neutrality by 2060.
The recent floods come on the heels of deadly weather events earlier this month, including flash floods in Shandong province that killed two and a landslide in Sichuan that left five dead.
As climate change accelerates extreme weather globally, the impact on China’s densely populated regions continues to mount.
