Beijing rains heaviest since records began: weather service

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

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 northeastern 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.