Heavy torrential rains in Beijing and its surrounding cities for four days straight in the wake of typhoon Doksuri making landfall have claimed 20 lives so far.
Water bodies in and around China’s capital have surged to dangerous levels after incessant rains once the typhoon struck the country last Friday.
The excessive precipitation and widespread flooding in the northern part of the country has also led to 27 missing, reported Beijing Daily on Tuesday morning. More than 100 mountain roads have been sealed shut in the Chinese capital and over 52,000 people have been evacuated from their homes as of Monday night, officials said.
Eleven deaths were reported in the mountains to the west of Beijing’s city centre, while nine other deaths were reported in Hebei province that is just outside the capital, according to state media. The death toll included two victims who died during rescue and relief operations, said the Beijing Daily report.
Between Saturday to early Monday, Beijing recorded an average of 260mm (10.2 inches) of rainfall with the Changping Wangjiayuan reservoir logging the largest reading at 738.3mm (29 inches).
Authorities in Beijing have resorted to using a flood storage reservoir, marking its first use since it was built 25 years ago.
One of the strongest storms to have pummelled China in years, Doksuri has now finally weakened and moved inward after wreaking havoc in the Philippines and Tokyo.
It has, however, continued to stir risks of further floods and geological disasters in the region, authorities have warned.
Water and power outages have been reported from several regions as thousands continue to face difficulties in securing food supplies amid heavy downpour, local media reports and social media videos have showed.
The weather forecast for Beijing, as well as for Tianjin and Hebei provinces, on Tuesday included localised thunderstorms and strong winds, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Officials in Beijing’s Fangshan district said they will deploy helicopters to drop off food, drinking water and emergency supplies to villages cut off in mountainous regions.
Around 400 flights were cancelled on Tuesday, and 100 others were delayed at two airports in Beijing, showed the Flight Master tracking app.
Officials suspended several subway lines in the capital, including trains in western suburbs. Beijing’s Mentougou district in the west saw dramatic damage a day before, once torrential rains turned roads into rivers and swept cars away.
The rainfall in Beijing and nearby areas over the past few days has broken records from over a decade ago when the Chinese capital saw a severe storm in July 2012.
Beijing was hit by what was then the strongest storm since the founding of modern China, with the city receiving 190.3mm of rain in one day, affecting more than 1.6 million people.
Typhoon Doksuri has already swept through the coastal province of Fujian last week, battering the region and affecting almost 2.7 million people, with close to 562,000 being evacuated from homes. More than 18,000 houses have been destroyed, the state media reported.
Officials are bracing for another typhoon, Khanun, expected to lash the East China sea on Wednesday morning, even as the aftermath of Doksuri lingers.
Meanwhile, in Japan, flights were cancelled and tens of thousands of people were advised to evacuate their homes on Tuesday as powerful typhoon Khanun approached Okinawa island chain, threatening torrential rains and high winds through Thursday.
Naha airport was closed and all flights to and from the area cancelled, amounting to more than 900 flights – both domestic and international – as of Tuesday noon, TV Asahi said.
At least 180 mm (7.1 inches) of rain was expected to fall by noon on Wednesday, when the storm was likely to brush closest to the area, NHK public television said.
Other parts of Japan saw severe weather as well, with nearly 15,000 households left without power in the capital of Tokyo and surrounding areas after a violent thunderstorm moved through, according to Tokyo Electric Power Co.
(Additional reporting by agencies)
