The days of downpours hit the mountains west of the city particularly hard, where 59,000 houses collapsed, nearly 150,000 were damaged and more than 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of crops were submerged, according to the capital’s government.
Dozens of roads were damaged, along with more than 100 bridges, Beijing vice mayor Xia Linmao said at a press conference on Wednesday.
The casualty and damage figures were from Tuesday, Xia said, and rescue efforts were still underway. Given the level of damage, it could take three years to reverse all the effects of the rains, she said.
Other areas of China have seen severe flooding, due in part to the impact of Typhoon Doksuri over the weekend, which left dozens dead and missing. Hebei province, just outside of Beijing, has seen some of the worst flooding in the region. The waters began to recede on Saturday in Zhuozhou, southwest of Beijing, allowing some of the 125,000 evacuees to return to their homes.
Meanwhile, other areas suffered from scorching heat and drought, threatening the health of the population and the autumn harvest. Heavy rains have hit northern China since late July, upending the lives of millions of people.
Six people were killed and four were missing in the city of Shulan, in the northeastern province of Jilin, where five straight days of rain turned streets into rivers and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people. Rivers in northern Heilongjiang province have also burst their banks.
The deadliest and most destructive floods in China’s recent history were in 1998, when 4,150 people died, mostly in the Yangtze Basin.
More than 300 people died in 2021 in the central province of Henan. Record rainfall flooded the provincial capital, Zhengzhou, on July 20 that year, where at least part of a subway line filled with water and the streets turned into torrents.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
